Local
Martin: Conflict of Interest at Fort Worth ISD?
Jacinto Ramos Jr. works with a pro-CRT organization while on the Fort Worth ISD board.
Local Tyranny: Dallas ISD Trustees vs. Moms
After school police threatened a citizen with arrest if she didn’t leave, trustees faced a serious allegation and demands to end their mask mandates.
Austin Homelessness Spending Audit Raises More Questions Than Answers
After months of investigation, the city auditor found there is no complete inventory of records.
Texas Panhandle Water District Approves Tax Decrease
Taxpayers with $100,000 property valuations can expect to pay about 40 cents less in property taxes to the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District next year.
Local Archive
Stinson Puts Down His Pen
The newspaper industry is suffering a rotten blow this week, with the announcement that columnist Roddy Stinson of the San Antonio Express-News is retiring, effective Dec. 30. Stinson has been an unabshed advocate for old-fashioned common sense, even when --...
Houston Chronicle Reports on Need for More Property Tax Relief
The Chronicle story "Homeowners still waiting for tax relief from Perry" reports most of the $2,000 promised property tax relief is evaporating due to appraisal increases, and in some school districts, rate increases. But the obstacle last session to more...
UPDATE: Threat Against TFR
Late Friday afternoon the Austin emergency response teams and federal agencies declared the substance mailed to TFR to be mostly harmless. The TFR staff and others in their section of the building were released, after being sequestered until the powder was identified....
Statement on TFR Death Threat
The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, offered the following statement on the death threat and powdery substance he received in the mail today. In response, the building has been evacuated but the TFR staff has been asked to remain...
Geren’s Obfuscation
State Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth wants it both ways. While he doesn't want his constituents to know about his anti-taxpayer ways, but he also says he isn't to worried about being seen as a government-growing spendoholic. Scoring just 45% on the TFR Index, Geren...
The Law Man
My travels took me to Del Rio for a speech this week, a border town in Val Verde County. I had the good fortune to chat with the sheriff, D'Wayne Jernigan. He’s true West Texas lawman who has earned the ire of the left-leaning establishment for doing his job well...
Tying Taxpayers To The Rail
Supporters of “light rail†and “commuter rail†consistently over-sell and under-deliver. Not only does mass-transit fail to reduce congestion, but it is always fraught with cost-overruns and implementation delays. Such is the case in Austin, where the new toy...
Job-Killing New Business Tax Exposed
The San Antonio Express-News reports that new National Federation of Independent Business radio ads assail the business tax that will take its first toll in May. The ads note some small businesses will see their tax burden rise by 1,000 percent over the current...
Will Taxpayers Get Justice?
A lawsuit designed to stop counties from using taxpayer-money to lobby against taxpayers is still brewing in Williamson County. The judge last month gave taxpayers a partial victory, but those who brought the suit are hoping to convince His Honor to make...