The purpose of this review is to identify opportunities to improve the performance of Smith County on behalf of its customers — the taxpayers. In the course of the review, issues of superior performance are also analyzed with the intention of encouraging replication in similar public agencies. Finally, an opportunity analysis evaluates results both in relation to internally established objectives and externally established public purposes, both implicit and explicit. The underlying question addressed by the opportunity analysis is “how good is the public agency compared to what it could be?”
Local Government
When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...
April 6, 2026