Local
Decision Texas, Houston, Local
Conservatives Sweep Cy-Fair School Board
Three seats were won by pro-parent challengers, bringing the conservative majority to six out of seven seats.
Church Helps Provide Students With Chest Binders in Katy ISD
Chest binding has been proven to have long-lasting, negative effects on females’ bodies.
8 Dead After Human Smuggler Attempted to Evade Police
According to the Texas DPS, the fleeing driver hit another car head-on, killing two Americans as the car was engulfed in flames.
Decision Texas, Local, Metroplex
Allen and Denton Pass Hundreds of Millions in City Bonds
With interest, the approved bonds will cost local property taxpayers significantly more than the dollar amounts shown on the ballot.
Local Archive
Hitchcock and Galveston Engulfed by Rising Tide of Property Taxes
If you've ever been to Hitchcock, which is situated in the shadows of Texas City and its effusive refineries, despite the proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, you might be forgiven for not having thought you were in Palm Beach. Hitchcock may not seem like a ritzy...
Small Businesses Bracing for Burdensome Business Tax
The San Antonio Express-News reports that many small business owners around the state are facing huge bills due under the new state gross receipts tax which starts in 2007, with the first payment to the state due by May 2008. The article notes that many firms are...
What Wine Goes Best With Pork-Fat?
The Texas Department of Agriculture will this Sunday serve up a heain' helpin' of taxpayer dollars as the chief sponsor of an artsy "wine dinner" in Austin. Were you invited? Me, either... The event benefits the Texas Wine & Food Foundation, an Austin non-profit...
Dallas Shopping Centers Ring Up Lawsuit Against Apprisal District
According to a Dallas Business Journal article , the owners of several Dallas-area shopping centers, including Highland Park Village and Preston Trail Plaza, are suing the Dallas Central Appraisal District and the Dallas Appraisal Review Board, saying the method the...
Too Much Dust, Not Enough Results
Besides just bad philosophy, one of the worst contributors to government growth is our misplaced emphasis on defining success by activity. When you stand on the plains and look to the horizon, a great cloud of dust can be either an army purposefully on the move, or a...
Texas Hotel Taxes Enough to Make You Lose Sleep
Found this revealing tidbit on the Austin American-Statesman's entertainment pages: Those hotel occupancy taxes in Texas’ big cities are so high they’ll give you a nosebleed. Example: My $279 stay at the lovely Granduca Hotel in Houston a few days ago...
More Taxes, Courtesy of Republican Fred Hill
There was once a time when Republicans were known as the tax-cutters; people who – if nothing else – would work to make sure the taxpayers’ money stayed in the taxpayers’ wallet (as State Rep. Rob Eissler likes to say). That was then, this is now. State Rep....
Pork in the State Budget?
The McAllen Monitor reported that the new $150 billion House budget for the 2008-09 biennium includes some arguably pork barrel expenditures - most of those mentioned are earmarks for projects in the Rio Grande Valley. Among the taxpayer-funded projects mentioned are:...
House Committee Unanimously Hangs Up on Telephone Tax
The Lone Star Report brings us the following good news:The House Regulated Industries committee unanimously voted Feb. 21 to eliminate the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF). The tax on consumers’ phone bill was created in 1995 to help wire schools,...