Texas has the most heavily regulated title insurance market in the country. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) sets the price and coverage of residential and commercial title insurance. The TDI also promulgates the division of premiums between title companies and agents. As a result, competition is eliminated from the title insurance market, and costs increase for both consumers and businesses.
Taxes & Spending
Assessing Tax Trends in the City of Austin
Does history suggest that property taxes are too high in the city of Austin? And, if so, have local decision-makers actively helped or hurt the situation? To help answer these questions, let’s review the city’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and gather four types of data—i.e., tax levies, local population, total tax rates, and taxable values—over a 10-year time horizon. Using these audited estimates, we can gauge the growth of government (i.e., tax levy trends), assess its reasonability...
February 19, 2026