• What Happens When the City Sells its Land to Pay the Bills?
    Sep 10 2026

    Texas local governments must balance their budgets. Some do it with land sales, rainy-day money, utility transfers, and other dollars that may not be there next year.

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    5 mins
  • Four School Tax Votes, Nearly $1.5 Billion in Bonds, One Metro area Under Pressure?
    Sep 3 2026

    Four San Antonio-area school districts are asking voters for more operating money this November. What happens if either side of the ballot fails?

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    4 mins
  • What Does Government Accountability Look Like When it Actually Works?
    Aug 27 2026

    Harris County’s appraisal district acknowledged a control failure and promised corrections; the next test is whether the public can verify the fix.

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    4 mins
  • Who’s Responsible When Government AI Gives the Wrong Answer?
    Aug 20 2026

    If human reviewers fade away and government work product is AI-produced, who will be held responsible for when things go wrong?

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    3 mins
  • When do Local Governments Decide What You Vote On in November?
    Aug 13 2026

    Most voters will not see their November local ballot until October. But cities, counties, school districts, and special districts are making the real decisions now: what gets ordered onto the ballot by August 17.

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    5 mins
  • Did a Judge Just Kill Race-based Contracting?
    Jul 30 2026

    Houston awarded $579 million to certified minority-, women-, and small-business contractors last year. Now, a federal judge has blocked the city from using race in those contracting decisions. What happens next?

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    5 mins
  • When the Data Gets it Wrong, Who Pays the Price?
    Jul 23 2026

    A private company built a 100,000-camera surveillance grid, wired it so federal authorities can access it, and operated it for more than a year without a license. Is that okay?

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    3 mins
  • The Hidden Cost of Rising Home Prices
    Jul 16 2026

    Texas home prices are still climbing in some of the state’s most expensive communities; can the property‑tax system keep up without shifting costs onto everyone else?

    The places seeing the biggest dollar jumps tell us something important about who pays for local government.

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    6 mins