What role (if any) should the states play in our lives with circumstances being what they are now in 2016?
Do we still need states?
Brutus
Do we still need states?
January 21, 2016
5 Comments | 
Federal Government, State Government | 
Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Request for information
January 20, 2016This message is for the members of city council that read this blog.
Would you please give us a status report about the project at San Jacinto Plaza?
We deserve better
Brutus
6 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Why spend money for another cover up?
January 19, 2016I wanted to read the two reports that city staff was asked to produce relating to the financial advisor mess.
The city’s web site offers them on this page:
Following either link I got this result:
Now the city has hired an out of town lawyer to look into the matter. Will the lawyer report impartially?
Consider the fact that the city hired the same attorney to oppose the open records requests relating to the ball park correspondence between members of city council.
We deserve better
Brutus
1 Comment | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Paying for our schools–construction
January 18, 2016In Texas our local school boards don’t have a lot of financial flexibility when it comes to paying for our schools because of the laws passed by our state legislature.
School districts are allowed to set two property tax rates. One is for operations and maintenance and the other is for debt service. Both rates are capped if I am correct.
Substantially the remainder of the funds that a school district receives are from the state and feral governments. These are funds that have been taken from the public at large and are then doled out without local input.
Poorer school districts in Texas have maintained that the distribution formulas used in Texas are unfair.
Developing formulas that all parties agree are fair may not be possible.
What is possible however is to fix the way that we pay for our buildings.
Under our present system administrators and school boards are allowed (some say forced) to deliberately under-fund the physical maintenance of our buildings and use the money to pay for other expenses. When the buildings finally deteriorate to the point that maintenance can no longer be ignored the districts turn to bond issues (debt) to replace or refurbish the buildings.
Luckily for the officials and board members that ignored the maintenance costs they are long gone and cannot be held accountable.
Paying for maintenance as it is needed would be cheaper and would improve the educational experience for our children.
One solution to the problem is to deny the school districts the ability to incur debt by only allowing them to have a single tax rate–one for operations and maintenance.
Some will argue that this creates a problem for districts that are growing or that suffer damage from disasters. Leasing school buildings from developers would solve the first problem and insurance the second.
We need to find a way to stop the debt option and force us to pay our costs as we go.
We deserve better.
Brutus
4 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Jefferson on the federal courts
January 17, 2016“Contrary to all correct example, [the Federal judiciary] are in the habit of going out of the question before them, to throw an anchor ahead and grapple further hold for future advances of power. They are then in fact the corps of sappers and miners, steadily working to undermine the independent rights of the States and to consolidate all power in the hands of that government in which they have so important a freehold estate.” Thomas Jefferson.
4 Comments | Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
You must be logged in to post a comment.