Local, Texas Foundation

I am continually amazed at how little people know about where they live. Cities and schools are not synonymous. City limit boundaries and schools districts lines are not the same. City residents are also residents of a county. Taxes you pay to each entity fund the services and infrastructure of each entity. If you want to know where a city gets its revenues and spends its monies, go to the city. The same goes for the school district and the county. Go to the source and educate yourself on who each entity is and what each entity does.

A&M expert has educators asking: If Kansas schools need $2 billion, how much do Texas' need? Texas A&M University professor Lori Taylor stunned Kansas lawmakers by recommending they increase their school funding by 44 percent. But what does that mean for Texas?    

Privatization of Rest Stops Directly Competes with Cities’ Local Businesses Opening interstate rest areas to private business development has been discussed in Washington — but leaders are pushing back.

Mayor Morgan is correct. This article is spot on.

Let local officials run local government, by Glen Whitley Local elected officials welcome the opportunity to talk with state leaders to find common ground on these issues and the principle of local control. That’s a principle I’ve never stopped believing in, nor will I stop fighting for it.

Texas ranks among lowest in the U.S. political and civic participation, new study finds | Community Impact Newspaper In the 2016 presidential election, Texas residents ranked 47th in voter turnout and 44th in voter registration among all 50... >

Don't fall for it: Patrick's property tax 'relief' is anything but With his plan to address property taxes in the upcoming special session of the state Legislature, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick clearly misunderstands the difference. The budget lawmakers passed bakes in a mandatory property tax increase of 13.8 percent to pay for schools over the next two years. [...] each....

For one Republican, a day of truth-telling about Texas, schools and taxes Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley turned his “State of the County” speech into a plea for business Republicans to resist “extrenes” and see through Austin’s games.

8 Ways the Arts Can Boost Your Local Economy Arts and culture can have a larger impact on your city’s economy than many other industries — but city leaders often don’t recognize the value.

Dan Patrick Admits That the Fight With Cities is Partisan “The only place Democrats have control of is our cities, and they’re doing a terrible job.”

New spending cap bill could cut into big Austin city projects Texas lawmakers want to limit how much cities and counties can spend while in Austin the mayor says it could hamper the city’s efforts.