The consolidation effort would add roughly 300 officers to the Houston Police Department.
Local
City of Denton Mandates Masks, Sets up Snitch Line
All commercial and nonprofit entities that deal directly with the public must “develop and implement” policies requiring face coverings for employees and visitors.
Is Dallas’ Democrat District Attorney Covering Up Corruption?
Despite public protests of wanting to hold police to a high standard, Democrats in Dallas are fighting to hide how many police officers have bad records.
Democrat Official Calls for Statewide Shutdown and Mask Mandate
Dallas’ county judge is pushing to bring back shelter-in-place, and to mandate all Texans wear masks.
Commentary: Hold Tarrant Commissioners Accountable for Their Mask Mandate
The commissioners have the power to override the county judge if they choose to.
MOST RECENT
Commentary: Special Districts Amass Huge Property Tax Surpluses
This gross mismanagement of over-collected tax dollars should be troubling for every resident in Fort Bend County.
City of Dallas Hiking Taxes
Proposed budget raises taxes on Dallas homeowners.
Waco Among Cities Proposing Property Tax Hike
Cities are scrambling to raise property tax rates before SB 2 goes into effect.
Amarillo College Eyeing Property Tax Increase
The college’s board of regents backs the first reading of a 2-cent tax increase.
Harlingen Eyes Property Tax Hike
Before tax reform legislation goes into effect next year, city officials are seeking to raise property taxes by 4 cents.
Frisco Recommends Raising Property Taxes
Frisco’s proposed 2019-20 budget is based on adopting a property tax rate that raises the average homeowner’s property tax bill.
Keller Joining Property Tax Revolution
Proposed budget and tax rate would make the average homeowner’s city property tax bills lower than last year.
Conroe Proposes Property Tax Hike Ahead of State-Mandated Cutoff
Ahead of Senate Bill 2’s mandated limit on property taxes, Conroe joins a long list of Texas cities attempting to raise rates before the law goes into effect.
Austin Crisis: The Man Behind the Curtain
What is really causing Austin’s homeless crisis?
Commentary: Saginaw Adds New Debt Without Asking Voters
Last Tuesday’s tax note decision marks a significant turning point in our city’s fiscally conservative history.
ARCHIVE
Lobbying For A Tax Increase
Dallas-Fort Worth area city fathers are looking to take a bigger bite out of your wallet — to fund lobbyists who’ll twist lawmakers arms in Austin to allow those same city fathers to take even bigger bites out of your wallet. The Fort Worth Business Press reports that "three counties, 15 or 20 cities" are willing to spend "substantial money " to hire lobbyists for the legislative session. Their goal? To raise taxes in north Texas.
Give Dallas ISD an”F” for Managing Its Finances
Today’s stunning Dallas Morning News story reveals that Dallas ISD overspent its 2007-08 budget by $64 million and, worse, nobody realized it until just now. The district would be bankrupt were it not for its reserve, which is down to $56 million – half of what a district its size should have.
Smith County Embraces Open Government
Texas is now home to the only TWO counties in the nation opening their books up to taxpayers for real-time review. The first was COllin County, in north Texas. Now comes word that commissioners in east Texas’ Smith County have thrown sunlight on their expenses.
Not All Growth Is Good
Poised to kill the goose of Texas’ golden economy are local governments, which are growing at historic levels. My friend Tom Pauken, chairman of Texas’ Workforce Commission, is lamenting this turn of events in an op-ed making the rounds in newspapers around the state.
Accountability is Public Humiliation for Board Members
Texas Rep. Charlie Howard R-Sugar Land crashed Fort Bend ISD’s tax raising party on Monday and did not hold any punches. Howard said he was "disappointed" with the taxing entity’s decision to raise taxes, pointing out that while the school district was raising its property tax rate other taxing jurisdictions, such as Fort Bend County and the city of Sugar Land, were lowering theirs.
Superintendents’ Super-Sized Salaries
As hundreds of Texas school districts insist that they are broke and need to raise taxes, last week the Lake Travis ISD voted to give superintendent Rocky Kirk a $6,000 pay raise. This brings his base salary to $231,520, which does not include numerous benefits.
Plano Voters Want Property Tax Relief
In an online survey Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) is conducting of his constituents, there is overwhelming support for property tax relief. Some 70% of respondents say the surplus should be used for property tax relief.
Watching Waste
Taxpayers in Houston paid for luxurious trinkets as city council members sought to use every penny of their “office holder” accounts rather than put the money back in the city’s general fund. The Houston Chronicle found thousands of dollars were spent on clothing, furniture and overnight “retreats” in Galveston. This may not be waste, fraud and abuse at its worst, but its close. For example, councilmember Melissa Noriega, wife of Democratic Senate nominee Rick Noriega hit the trifecta of waste: outfitting her office with new flat-screen TVs, expensive furniture and self-promoting polo shirts.
Teed Off
Lubbock taxpayers should be a little teed. It seems the company which leases the city’s golf course hasn’t been paying rent, and no one will comment because it is “sensitive and classified information.” Since when did skipping out on the taxpayers become an issue of national security?
Dingus Doofus
West Texas is alight with anticipation that House Speaker Tom Craddick is going to be debating his November democratic party challenger, former Midland city council member Bill Dingus. Should be a good show. You gotta feel sorry for poor Dingus; a Democratic Party spokesman admitted to the Midland newspaper that Craddick has “accomplished several things for the Permian Basin region.”