At a Special Meeting on January 22nd, Houston ISD Board Members were delivered an unpromising update from the bond department on the status of their 2012 bond program and ongoing projects. The report notified board members that after asking Houston voters to approve...
In response to state-imposed debt limits, school districts and their corporate sponsors have created the Fast Growth School Coalition (FGSC)—a lobbyist group pushing for more debt and higher property taxes. To further their aims, the coalition is poised to lobby...
Building on their successful research of the Real Texas Budget and the Conservative Texas Budget, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a paper today detailing the need for tax and expenditure limits to secure economic freedom for the future of Texas. In a...
Two Harris County cities have published notices that their councils will authorize millions of dollars in Certificates of Obligation without approval from their respective taxpayers, and it’s all legal according to the Texas Local Government Code. The first to make...
Texans take pride in our state’s frequent “Best in America” characterization when it comes to job creation. It should come as a surprise then that we are not rated the number one tax climate for business. According to the 2015 State Business Tax Climate Index,...
In a letter sent September 25th, Katy Independent School District apologized to parents for releasing their email addresses via Public Information requests to PACs participating on both sides of the November bond election. The release resulted in parents receiving...
In a swift proceeding on Thursday, Houston ISD’s trustees voted on a 1-cent tax hike for property owners. This comes on top of a 3-cent increase in 2013. These tax hikes are in response to the $1.89 billion voter-approved bond two years ago. According to Trustee...
Texas taxpayers deserve to know the whole truth about their local debt.
In November, Austin voters will decide on City Proposition 1—a billion dollar transit rail line that will over double the city’s debt and lead to a substantial tax increase for property tax payers. Unlike previous elections on boondoggle projects, greater citizen...
Houston's elected officials are continuing to endanger the prosperity of our state’s largest and most economically vibrant city by ignoring major fiscal challenges and complaining about voter-imposed revenue limits. For the first time in five years, Houston taxpayers...