Explainer: What are the Alternatives to the Property Tax?
Property taxes have been levied by governments in Texas since before its independence from Mexico. How the tax has been levied however has changed over time. In the last few decades, the burden of property taxes has exponentially increased as a portion of the overall...
Party Conventions – Part One: The Work Continues After Primary Elections
Early voting begins next week (February 14 through February 25) for the primary elections where both Democrats and Republicans will choose their candidates for the General Election in November. Primary election season is certainly one of the busiest seasons in Texas...
Spotlight On The 87th: HB 1698
Primary election season is upon us, and it is a great time to look back and review some of the more fiscally irresponsible votes lawmakers claiming to be "conservative" on the campaign trail took before we decide to trust them again with our support. Today we are...
Potential Resurrection of Additional Corporate Welfare in the Works
On Wednesday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) took to Twitter to talk about a speech he gave at the annual Ad Valorem Tax Conference hosted by the Texas Oil and Gas Association in San Antonio. Among the issues he indicated he discussed was his support for...
A Somber Milestone Also Marks Bleak Outlook for the Prosperity of Future Generations
$30 trillion. Written another way, $30,000,000,000,000. It is a number that is generally unfathomable and difficult to truly understand or conceptualize by everyday Americans. It also represents the money owed by the United States Government or more importantly the...
Explainer: How does the Texas Budget Work?
The Texas budgeting process is one that very few people actually understand in Texas politics, let alone how lawmakers arrive at a finalized budget for the next two fiscal years. In this explainer, we aim to give a simple overview of the process in a way that is easy...
Explainer: What is the Texas Rainy Day Fund?
Most Texas taxpayers have probably never heard of the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) or as it's sometimes referred to, "the Rainy Day Fund." Our assumption is that lawmakers are content to keep the ESF hidden because if most taxpayers knew the reality of how it is...
Explainer: What Is The Texas Enterprise Fund?
One of many government programs that many Texans have no clue exists is the Texas Enterprise Fund. Millions of tax dollars are distributed from this program, yet it never receives much attention from the public. The program is administered via the Office of the...
After Receiving COVID Welfare, Most Texas Cities Are In More Debt
Recently Truth In Accounting released their most recent Financial State of the Cities for 2022. This report analyzed the financial health of the top 75 cities in America during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The report found that 61 cities did not have enough money to pay...