Tag Archives: sales taxes

Mayor Whitmire appoints a new Metro Chair

Congratulations and welcome aboard. Mayor John Whitmire on Tuesday announced CenterPoint Energy executive Elizabeth Brock would lead the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board of directors. If approved, Brock would be the first Hispanic woman to lead the transit agency. “She brings … Continue reading

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How Harris County has spent COVID relief funds

A lot of good stuff here. Harris County has received around $1.8 billion in federal aid to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, a staggering sum that provided struggling residents with immediate emergency relief, has kept county services running and is fueling … Continue reading

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A more nuanced look at the finances of hosting the Final Four

I’ve made fun of articles in the past that breathlessly and credulously repeated claims that various big sporting events like a Super Bowl or a Final Four would yield untold millions in sales and hotel tax revenue for the state … Continue reading

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End the “tampon tax”

I approve. A coalition of menstrual health organizations is appealing a decision by the Texas Comptroller’s Office to deny its protest against the state sales tax, which they say unfairly and unconstitutionally does not exempt tampons, pads and other hygienic … Continue reading

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Does Houston get its fair share from Harris County?

It’s complicated. Do property taxpayers inside the City of Houston subsidize Harris County services? It’s a question that comes up a lot, given the fact that city residents—like their counterparts in the county—pay separate property taxes to the county, but … Continue reading

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Metro moving forward on new BRT line

As they should. Even with fewer riders hopping aboard and a more dour financial outlook, Metro officials say the agency is full steam ahead on a host of projects aimed at adding buses to scores of routes and neighborhoods. That … Continue reading

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Here comes our boring budget

Save the drama for the budget amendments. A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Sylvester Turner painted a dire picture of the city’s finances as he laid out his plan to balance last year’s $5 billion city budget. Like … Continue reading

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Houston gets to have a boring budget

Thanks, President Biden and all you voters in Georgia! Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to use an influx of federal cash to give firefighters a “raise the city can afford,” expand the Houston Police Department and replace lost revenue from the … Continue reading

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What the American Rescue Plan means to Houston

First and foremost, no layoffs. Houston and Harris County are expected to receive more than $1.5 billion through the stimulus bill approved by Congress Wednesday, providing a massive cash injection that city officials say will help close a budget shortfall … Continue reading

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Here’s the official budget forecast

“Could be worse” remains the watchword. Texas lawmakers will enter the legislative session this week with an estimated $112.5 billion available to allocate for general purpose spending in the next two-year state budget, a number that’s down slightly from the … Continue reading

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Can we please not screw the schools right now?

Really, we don’t have to do this. Across the Houston region and Texas, school districts that lost enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic are facing a drop in state funds starting in January if the Texas Education Agency or state lawmakers … Continue reading

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State budget situation not quite as awful as feared

Still bad, but could be worse. Despite “historic declines,” state lawmakers will have more money to work with in the upcoming legislative session than Comptroller Glenn Hegar expected over the summer, he said Monday. But Hegar did not outline specifics … Continue reading

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There’s a raft of pro-pot bills that have been filed so far

And one formidable obstacle to them all, in the form of Lt. Gov. Dan “One Million Dollars!” Patrick. Texas lawmakers set a record with over 60 marijuana-related bills in 2019 — and this year, they’ve already introduced 11 measures that … Continue reading

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Metro moving forward with its construction plans

As well they should. Carrin Patman greeted the supporter by grabbing both of his hands in a packed downtown Houston event space above a bustling sports bar. The buffet laid out for Metro’s 2019 election night watch party was thoroughly … Continue reading

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The economic effect of losing college football this fall

I have some sympathy, but I also have some skepticism. Texas’ five major conference football teams – Baylor University, Texas Christian University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and the University of Texas at Austin — are massive economic drivers … Continue reading

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The cities still need COVID relief

Just a reminder, in case you’d forgotten. As Congress resumes work on a new coronavirus financial relief package, nearly 100 Texas mayors are pressing the state’s congressional delegation for more funding to address revenue losses incurred due to the economic … Continue reading

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Metro’s long road

It will be awhile before bus and rail ridership returns to pre-COVID levels. Metro officials predict it will be months, and possibly years, before bus and rail service ridership return to pre-COVID-19 levels in Houston as economic uncertainty, a lack … Continue reading

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There won’t be furloughs after all

A slightly confusing bit of good news. Houston will not need to furlough roughly 3,000 city employees nor cancel its police cadet classes in the upcoming budget year, Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced during a city council budget committee … Continue reading

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How low can sales tax collections go?

If we’re lucky, no lower than this. Texas collected about $2.6 billion in state sales tax revenue in May, leading to the steepest year-over-year decline in over a decade, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday. The amount is 13.2% less than … Continue reading

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Here come the furloughs

We said this was gonna be bad, right? Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, facing an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and collapsing oil prices, on Tuesday proposed to close an upcoming budget gap by furloughing about 3,000 municipal workers, deferring … Continue reading

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Down go the sales tax receipts

It’s bad. Expected, but bad. Texas collected $2.58 billion in state sales tax revenue in April — a roughly 9% drop from what the state collected the same month last year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Friday. That drop, from $2.8 … Continue reading

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Metro will get some stimulus money

Good. Transit agencies in southeastern Texas are set to receive more than $300 million to stem revenue losses linked to COVID-19, federal officials announced Thursday, most of it coming to Houston. As part of the first round of Congress-approved stimulus … Continue reading

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Cities and counties are going to need their own bailout

This story is about the rough financial future that the city of Houston faces as we go through the coronavirus shutdown, but it’s not just Houston that is in this position. As Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration continues efforts to slow … Continue reading

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Coronavirus and the state budget

Ain’t gonna be great. How bad, we don’t yet know. Comptroller Glenn Hegar briefed Texas House members on the state’s economy and budget Sunday night, saying that while it was too soon for specific forecasts, both are expected to take … Continue reading

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Worrying about the restaurants

Alison Cook laments the potential fate for her favorite part of Houston. Depending on local or state strictures, to help stem the spread of Covid-19 restaurants in most major markets would be able to provide takeout, drive-thru or delivery rations … Continue reading

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Back to the no-fares question

I remain skeptical, but we’ll see. As it stands right now, most of METRO’s operating funds don’t come from the fares. The transit agency gets most of its money from a one-cent sales tax, which caught the attention of Harris … Continue reading

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Bus service in new places

This is a good first step, which I hope begets a second step. Harris County has extended bus service to Channelview, Cloverleaf and Sheldon, using $3.8 million in Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery money to jump-start the new routes. Service started … Continue reading

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Metro moves towards cashless fares (maybe)

We started with this. The Metropolitan Transit Authority on Thursday will consider the first in a series of agreements to revamp its fare payment system that eventually could offer riders the option of using smartphones, credit cards and electronic wallets … Continue reading

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Someone is opposing the Metro referendum

I suppose it was too optimistic to hope that the Metro referendum would not get any organized opposition. Opponents of Metro’s $3.5 billion bond referendum have formed a political action committee to lead a grass-roots campaign to curtail what they … Continue reading

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The tax swap is dead

For this session, at least. Most likely, barring anything strange. State Rep. Dan Huberty, the top public education leader in the Texas House, postponed two items of legislation Tuesday that would pay for long-term, ongoing school district tax cuts by … Continue reading

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Where goes the tax swap plan from here?

We start with the double down. Showing their usual united front, the state’s “Big Three” political leaders on Friday tried to remake their case for why the Texas Legislature should deliver on long-term, ongoing property tax relief before the session … Continue reading

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More action on the school finance/property tax front

From Tuesday: The Texas House gave preliminary approval to a priority property tax reform package Tuesday, teeing it up for negotiations with the Senate and impelling the upper chamber to act on an omnibus school finance measure. Together, the education … Continue reading

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School finance and property tax update

From last week. Blasting the Senate for taking a symbolic approach on school district taxes, a panel of House lawmakers heavily altered then approved the upper chamber’s version of priority property tax legislation late Thursday. And committee members pointedly included … Continue reading

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Yes, they really are now pushing a sales tax for property tax swap

Some bad ideas never die. Texas’ top three political leaders — Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen — threw their support Wednesday behind a proposal to increase the sales tax by one percentage point … Continue reading

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