Dripping Springs ISD officials want voters to approve half a billion dollars in property tax-backed bond debt on the November ballot.
Local
Travis County Commissioners Raising Your Taxes and Their Salaries
The county commissioners are raising your taxes next year—and they just raised their own salaries.
Mizani Declares Pro-Taxpayer Mayoral Candidacy
Former Keller City Councilman announces mayoral campaign, stating, “We must follow through on our promise to protect taxpayers.”
Amarillo Attorney Prepares for Court of Appeals Bid
Steven Michael Denny files treasurer appointment for possible bid for Seventh Court of Appeals.
Greenville Proposes Over 22 Percent Tax Hike
Taxpayers in Greenville are facing a massive hike in their property tax bills from the city.
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MOST RECENT
Did Round Rock’s Mayor Try to Mislead Public?
The mayor’s questionable tweet has since been deleted.
State Lawmaker Released from Jail Ahead of Session
State representative released in time to start the next legislative session.
New Montgomery County Officials Sworn In
Slate of candidates who promised big reforms take office.
Abbott: “Houston ISD Leadership is a Disaster”
Gov. Greg Abbott has weighed calling for the state to intervene in Houston ISD.
Sharron Albertson: Teaching by Example
Conservative activist Sharron Albertson leads the way through involvement in pro-life, pro-family, pro-limited government groups.
Third Candidate Announces Bid for Amarillo Mayor
The list of Amarillo mayoral candidates grows as Potter County JP throws his name in the hat.
New Administration Takes Office in Harris County
With the start of the new year, a new Harris County administration was sworn in.
San Antonio City Council Votes Hinder Growth of Sharing Economy
The initial appeal of short-term rental services are the savings. Operators don’t have to deal with overhead costs, labor costs, and taxes that hotels do. And operators pass the savings on to tourists. But thanks to the city council, operators now get a taste of some of those expenses.
Round Rock’s 50K Giveaway
Citizens of Round Rock, your city council is giving away a pile of cash.
Free Speech Group Sues University of Texas Over Unconstitutional Code of Conduct
The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of three anonymous right-wing students who are afraid to express themselves at risk of punishment from the administration.
ARCHIVE
Taxpayers vs. Spending Addicts in Abilene
The Abilene Reporter-News has a revealing piece today discussing how Abilene taxpayers support revenue and appraisal caps while local officials are frightened by the prospect. The most eye-opening quote is:
Taylor County Commissioner Chuck Statler likened the county's situation to his personal budget at home: ''If your expenses continue to increase, why would you want to reduce your income?''
Texas Taxpayer Funded Lobbying & Blogging
The Galveston Daily News reported this month that the board of the Galveston Independent School District voted to pay the Austin consulting firm Moak, Casey & Associates up to $15,000 to lobby the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on their behalf. The 
specific purpose of this arrangement is to get TEA to agree to a swap between the money the district will receive to buy down school property taxes and the money they will owe the state in Robin Hood payments. Suffice it to say, the article states that some questioned why district officials just don't call TEA themselves to find out whether this is feasible.
Sen. Carona would rather do the wrong thing… on taxes?
State Senator John Carona (R-Dallas) is quoted by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as saying that he'd rather "something wrong than do nothing." The sad thing is that in this case, the "wrong thing" he'd rather do is raise local taxes to pay for more wasteful mass transit spending, than "do nothing" which apparently includes making local governments squeeze more effiency out of their spending programs.
Houston Chronicle notes TFR
The Houston Chronicle's Janet Elliott noted in her blog this week the creation of TFR.
Howard About That! Legislator Files Bill to Fix Spending Limitation
As we reported earlier on this blog, we have urged the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) to adopt growth in gross state product instead of tot
al personal incomes as the index for measuring growth in the state's economy for purposes of calculating the constitutional spending limitation. Making this change would mean that Texas politicians could increase state spending by at least $3-$6 billion dollars less in the 2008-09 biennium than they could otherwise.
DallasBlog notes TFR’s launch
DallasBlog.com contributor (and editor of the Lone Star Report) Will Lutz noted the formation of TFR in a posting this morning. You can read his post here.
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Austin American-Statesman notes TFR formation
On the "Postcards from the Lege" section of the Statesman's website, reporter Mike Ward noted the formation of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Check out his actual posting here.
Sullivan to lead Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
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New organization offers vision, leadership on tax relief, spending reforms Advocacy efforts focused on promoting sound fiscal policy among lawmakers, taxpayers |
AUSTIN, Texas – Unveiled in Austin today is a new organization, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, developed to promote government accountability to taxpayers and citizens. The mission of TFR is to create and sustain a system of strong fiscal stewardship within all levels of state government that serves to empower all Texans.
Board chairman and Midland businessman Tim Dunn announced that the organization will be headed Michael Quinn Sullivan. Sullivan comes to TFR from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he served as vice president and director of media and government relations. TFR was originally founded in early 2006 as Empower Texans.