The race to fill the vacant seat for Texas House District 2 is underway, with the special election now less than a month out.  One candidate, Jill Dutton, has thrown her hat into the ring, hoping that Voters in HD-2…

What does it say about a state that has to pay off government schools and those within the government school system in order to potentially adopt a school choice system that benefits only some students? That scenario is exactly what…

The State’s metaphorical piggy bank continues to fill up with surplus dollars from your wallet, says the Texas Comptroller.  Last Friday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the Certification Revenue Estimate(CRE) for the fiscal 2024-25 biennium. The CRE revises estimates from…

This commentary was originally published at The Center Square here. It is being republished with permission from the author. If you live in Texas, then your property taxes are skyrocketing. This has made housing less affordable, especially for the neediest among…

It is that time of year again! When Texas taxpayers are reminded that they, in fact, do NOT own their homes, but rather pay perpetual rent to the government via the property tax. That’s right, soon property tax bills will…

Texas politicians had a choice to make this spring. With a record $80 billion of new revenue available, they could either spend the money or give it back to Texas taxpayers in the form of property tax relief. Unfortunately for…

Today, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) requesting that he immediately call a third special legislative session, to address a host of pressing issues affecting all Texas taxpayers and families.  It is already…

Every year in August and September, Local Governments across the Lone Star State set about the task of proposing and then adopting their tax rates and budgets for the next year. Last month, TFR reminded Texas taxpayers about the impending…

Earlier this month, TFR reminded Texas Taxpayers that the time of local budget setting and property tax rate adoptions was rapidly approaching.  Now, just a few weeks later, many major cities and counties across the Lone Star State have put…

Overview Debt A recent report by the Texas Bond Review Board notes that Texas’ total outstanding local government debt is $280 billion, resulting in debt per capita of $8,869. This puts Texas’ local debt per capita in third place of…

This Friday, September 1st, 2023, marks the day nearly 800 new laws, passed by the 88th Legislature, go into effect. Of those, several will impact Texas taxpayers directly both immediately and into the future.  For Texas taxpayers, the 88th Legislative…

Texas is a leader in job creation over the last year and since February 2020. But Texas faces major headwinds as the recently ended 88th Legislature looked more like California than what is expected from the free-market bastion of hope…

In the intricate political landscape of Texas politics, more often than not those politicians that claim to be “Republicans” or “conservatives” advocate for fiscally responsible government, lower taxes, and less spending by government entities. Dallas Changing their Playbook? Yet, in…

Are you a homeowner? A small business owner? Farmer or rancher? Texas property owner of any kind? If you are, then this information is for you! Tax Rates Every year, local governments in Texas set a budget for their operations…

This November, Texans across the State will go to the polls to vote on fourteen (14) amendment propositions to the Texas Constitution. These proposed amendments were passed by two-thirds of both the Texas House and the Texas Senate and require…