Tag Archives: property taxes

You’ll get to vote on some unsustainable tax cuts this November

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Get out your figurative credit card, we’re about to put a big charge on it for our future selves to pay. Voters will be asked to approve property tax cuts for Texas homeowners and businesses in November. If voters agree, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2025, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on You’ll get to vote on some unsustainable tax cuts this November

Whitmire’s budget passes

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

On to the next thing. The City Council approved Mayor John Whitmire’s nearly $7 billion budget on Wednesday after months of strenuous efforts to cut costs and streamline services as officials contended with the largest deficit in Houston’s history. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Controller Hollins has some questions about the budget

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This hit my inbox on Tuesday evening, so I didn’t see it in time to queue something up for yesterday. Ahead of Wednesday’s City Council vote on the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, City Controller Chris Hollins has released a … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Controller Hollins has some questions about the budget

Houston can defer the drainage settlement spending

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Can successfully kicked down the road. Mayor John Whitmire and plaintiffs in Houston’s drainage lawsuit have reached a deal on how the city will fund future street and drainage projects, slashing a third of its $330 million budget deficit. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Taking the package

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The city’s workforce is voluntarily shrinking. More than 700 city of Houston employees are set to retire May 1 after accepting voluntary buyouts, city officials said Thursday. Many of the positions will have to be backfilled, but Whitmire administration officials … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Taking the package

And here comes the voluntary retirement plan

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like the obvious move. In a letter sent to city employees Thursday, [Mayor John] Whitmire wrote that the city will be offering a “one-time Voluntary Municipal Retirement Payout Option” to employees who are eligible for retirement. The plan will … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Get rid of the delinquent tax collectors

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m glad Harris County is out of this business. Texas has the seventh-highest property taxes in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, an unwelcome distinction state officials have for years tried to shed as they have repeatedly promised to … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Get rid of the delinquent tax collectors

City to implement hiring freeze

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is planning to implement a hiring freeze in the coming days that will impact all city departments except fire and police, a city spokesperson confirmed. While an exact … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

City to use Metro funds to help pay for that additional drainage stuff

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure is convenient havigna transit agency you can raid. Houston officials plan to offset a $100 million hit to the city’s budget in a recent legal ruling by using cash from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to spend more money on … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

SCOTx rejects appeal of that zombie ReBuild lawsuit

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

End of the line. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied Houston’s motion to appeal a long-standing lawsuit requiring the city to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on street and drainage projects. Friday’s ruling could add yet another financial challenge to a strained city … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’re not cutting our way out of this

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A preview of today’s budget debate from the Houston Landing. Four city council members are proposing a 5 percent increase in Houston’s property tax rate they say would enable the city to avoid $86 million in spending cuts and bring … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Maybe those Appraisal District elections weren’t such a hot idea

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks to Tarrant County for setting the bad example. The Tarrant Appraisal District’s recent changes to local tax policy might violate Texas law, according to a state lawmaker. “I don’t believe the actions they’ve taken are legal,” Sen. Paul Bettencourt, … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Whitmire plays his greatest hits

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor John Whitmire gave his first State of the City address this week. Here’s the preview story for what we were to expect. Mayor John Whitmire will lay out his administration’s priorities during his inaugural State of the City address … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Judge Hidalgo advocates for the Flood Control tax hike

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve got my eye on this. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in her State of the County address on Thursday made her first public push for a proposed tax hike that would create more funds for infrastructure maintenance. Hidalgo said … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Different HISD bond referendum poll, different result

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not a big surprise, but that doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong. Just days apart, two polls related to Houston ISD’s proposed $4.4 billion school bond forecast clashing results, with a new survey released Tuesday suggesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Harris County Flood Control District tax hike proposal on the ballot

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

One more item to vote on. Harris County will ask voters in November to increase the Flood Control District’s property tax rate to fund a “transformational” investment in drainage for years to come. The district’s current tax rate is 3.1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Harris County Flood Control District tax hike proposal on the ballot

HPD releases a dropped cases report

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Kudos for the serious review, but boy did this go on for a long time without anyone doing anything about it. Between 2016 and 2024, Houston Police Department leaders had multiple opportunities to question — and potentially stop — the … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HPD releases a dropped cases report

Should we appeal the zombie ReBuild lawsuit ruling?

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Controller Hollins says no. Mayor Whitmire seems likely to go ahead anyway. Houston Controller Chris Hollins has warned Mayor John Whitmire’s administration about potential financial challenges the city could face if it were to appeal a state appellate court ruling … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Should we appeal the zombie ReBuild lawsuit ruling?

Appeals court declines to block zombie ReBuild lawsuit ruling

Posted on June 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

That means the city is still on the hook for a bunch more money to be allocated to drainage projects. Which the just-adopted budget didn’t account for. A state appellate court on Tuesday rejected the city of Houston’s request to … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Appeals court declines to block zombie ReBuild lawsuit ruling

It’s Greg Abbott’s fault if your school district is facing a budget crunch

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

News item #1: Houston-area school districts brace for big budget cuts. Staring down a $100 million deficit budget, even after deciding to close three campuses in February, Aldine ISD trustees have a difficult decision to make this week. Voting on … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mayor Whitmire unveils his first budget

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Here ya go. Amid Houston’s strained financial outlook, Mayor John Whitmire unveiled a $6.7 billion budget proposal on Tuesday, announcing he does not intend to raise taxes or significantly cut city services during the fiscal year starting in July. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mayor Whitmire unveils his first budget

One last pre-election look at those Appraisal Board elections

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib, which did the initial reporting that informed me of these dumb new elections in the first place. The new law requires only counties with more than 75,000 residents to hold the elections, a designation that applies to … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Zombie ReBuild lawsuit returns with a vengeance

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Unbelievable. Houston City Hall will have to use significantly more tax money to fight flooding with street and drainage projects, after an appeals court sided Tuesday with engineers in a years-long lawsuit over how much funding the city devotes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Good luck finding any info about those county appraisal board elections

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I’ve written a bunch about the HCAD Board elections, including doing interviews with four of the candidates, so that you my readers and anyone else who stumbles across this page can hopefully know a little something about … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Chron covers the HCAD elections

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

At long, long last. Most Houston-area property owners likely are unaware that the amount of taxes they owe is decided, in part, by a group of local appraisers overseen by a little-known board of directors. But for the first time … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Still waiting on details for paying the firefighters

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of the same stuff we’ve heard before here, but a little bit more details. Houston Mayor John Whitmire detailed his last three months as the fourth-largest city’s top boss and outlined some of his ongoing projects in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Hey look, it’s a story about the HCAD elections

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

About damn time. A question you are unlikely to hear at any bar, diner or dinner table over the next month: Who are you voting for the county appraisal district board? Few area residents are aware of the election, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

We have our HCAD candidates

Posted on February 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Here they are, from the County Judge’s office: Place 1 Ramsey Isa Ankar Katherine Ballard Blueford-Daniels Era N. Ford William Reinhardt Frazier Place 2 Jevon German Janice W. Hines Melissa Louise Noriega Austin Ryan Pooley Kyle Anthony Scott Place 3 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on We have our HCAD candidates

We have HCAD candidates

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I promised you last week I would check again to see who if anyone had filed for those new HCAD Board Member positions. Here I deliver on that promise. I inquired again with the County Judge’s office, and was given … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HCAD candidate filing update

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, remember how I said I was going to check and see if we had any candidates for those newly to-be-elected positions on the HCAD Board of Trustees? Well, I checked, and as of yesterday afternoon no one had applied … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Do we have any HCAD candidates yet?

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Campos summarizes our forthcoming election calendar. Most folks here in Harris County are gearing up for the political party primaries on Super Tuesday, March 5 with early voting in person beginning on Tuesday, February 20. Heck, Commentary already sent in … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

We’re going to be electing what now?

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I had no idea about this. It sure wasn’t covered in the runup to this past election. In a state known for too many elections, there’s another one coming to Texas’ 50 largest counties. This May, voters in those most … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2023, Election 2024, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Republicans finally agree on a property tax cut

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Our moderate-length semi-statewide bit of unpleasantness is coming to an end. Probably. The $18 billion compromise between the Texas House and Senate — which includes more than $5 billion approved for relief in 2021 — would give increased tax relief … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Republicans finally agree on a property tax cut

Latest ReBuild lawsuit dismissed

Posted on July 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

One less thing for the next Mayor to worry about. I hope. A district court judge has ruled in favor of Houston leaders in a 4-year-old lawsuit, countering allegations that Mayor Sylvester Turner and the City Council illegally shortchanged the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Latest ReBuild lawsuit dismissed