Spending Limitation Resolution

This was posted by Marc Levin on Empower Texans blog.

Texas GOP Primary Ballot will include a Spending Limitation Resolution

Texas Republican primary voters will weigh in on a non-binding resolution that asks whether state and local governments should be required to limit annual budget increases to the sum of the population growth and inflation rate. The measure is likely to pass overwhelmingly, just as a similar proposition did several years ago. Hopefully, this time lawmakers will get the message.

http://www.empowertexans.com/node/441

Texas Conservative Conference: Live Blog. Peggy Venable

I missed Robin Armstrong's speech as I needed a bathroom break. He is always very good as a speaker and as an advocate for Republican values. I am proud that he is the Vice President of the Republican Party of Texas.

Peggy Venable, the Texas Director for Americans for Prosperity is now speaking.

Peggy is a leading taxpayer advocate in Texas. She is speaking on the TaxPayers Bill Of Rights (TABOR). Taxpayers need transparency and accountability among our elected officials. Government entities are spending lots of money with no restraint.

County governments are spending money on lobbyists, through the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Municipal League, to lobby the Legislature for additional money. Taxpayer funded lobbyists is a major problem in that the money that is spent on lobbyists is usually going to advocate for additional tax money wasted by our government entities. This is a blatant violation of the Texas local government code. Peggy Venable has sued Williamson County for spending money on the Texas Association of Counties to illegally lobby for additional funding. Peggy Venable won the lawsuit, but Williamson County has not pulled out of the Texas Association of Counties.

We need elected officials to stand up for spending constraints at the state and local government level. Over the past 30 years, local government spending has risen 4 times from what is was in the early 1980's. The debt of local governments has increased 5 times from the early 1980's. The total amount of interest on debt that local government pays statewide, as of 2007, is greater than the amount of money that local governments spend on fire and police departments statewide. More money is spent on interest payments than on the necessary functions of local governments.

The government is run by those who show up. Inform yourselves and get active in lobbying your elected officials for spending restraints, appraisal caps, and transparency in government. Only through a grassroots efforts can we lower spending and limit the growth of government spending.

Austin City and AISD budgets

Slicing up the Austin taxpayer pie...

The Austin city budget pie chart is shown below. This does not include the $300 million plus spent by Cap Metro; nor does it include the AISD budget of over $700 million; nor does it include the ACC budget of $157 million; nor does it include the Travis county budget of $400 million; nor does it include the Healthcare Tax district budget of over $50 million; nor does it include the Austin Energy slush fund. So what's left? Police, firemen, parks, and ... well, what exactly does transfer/others mean? Graft, corruption and waste?!? (the Chronicle says: "This nebulous category accounts for project funding and support staff in offices like sanitation or the law department. The budget proposes an increase for funding these offices, including council offices.")

Chart courtesy of Austin Chronicle. More on the budget here.

AISD: The AISD budget message shows the art of OBFUSCATION: What bureaucrats trying to hide the huge spending increases they are engaging in. The message says everything about the budget except the one essential thing - how big it is. Reading the full budget we find: The budget funding totals $748 million, an increase of 13% over the previous year; appropriations come in at $727 million, an increase of nearly 7%. Notably, state funding is doubling from $47 million to over $100 million, but local funding is not going down. AISD did the max tax increase they could without going to the voters, 4 points (from 1.34 to 1.37% valuation) and along with property value increases, that is keeping the local property taxpayers soaked. The cost per pupil is $9,700, but there is a chapter 41 recapture amount of $126 million for net cost per pupil of $8,000. The bottom line: A K-12 education for each single student in AISD costs over $100,000. PDF of full AISD budget.