Tax Policy

Oncor's "Phantom Tax" Windfall May Become Permanent as Bill Hits Texas House Floor

Oncor, the Dallas-based sticks-and-wires utility, has collected half a billion dollars from ratepayers since 2007 for federal income taxes. But according to a report, the IRS hasn't received a dime. In fact, most of that cash has gone to its struggling parent, Energy Future Holdings, which is march ... More >>

A Republican State Senator is Pushing For an Increase in the Texas' Gas Tax

Texas' 20-cent-per-gallon gas tax hasn't changed since 1991. That's despite the erosion of the tax's purchasing power -- the Wall Street Journal estimates that the gas tax buys half as much concrete, steel, and other materials as they did 20 years ago -- and a glaring need -- the state comptroller's ... More >>

The 10 Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will

City Hall's Cuts of 911 Put Us All at Risk From Crime and Lawsuits

The 911 problem itself is bad enough, but the mayor and the police chief are about to drive me crazy. At our house we record the news and watch it right before going to bed. It's worse than chips and spicy salsa. Night after night we are subjected to these horror stories on TV about people perishin ... More >>

Lubbock County Judge Predicts Civil War if Obama is Re-elected, Proposes Tax Hike

This has nothing to do with Dallas, except that Dallas and Lubbock are both in Texas, but a Friend of Unfair Park passed along an article from a local TV station about a proposed tax increase in Lubbock County. More specifically, it's about County Judge Tom Head's reasons for asking for a tax increa ... More >>

Your Property Taxes Are Probably Going Up. So Is Community College Tuition.

Dallas, both city and county, has held the line on property taxes in recent years despite dwindling revenues and shrinking budgets. Still, your property tax bill is probably going to increase after September 1, when Dallas County Community College District's new budget goes into effect. DCCCD spoke ... More >>

The Dallas Country Club is Now Worth $36 Million, DCAD Says. Cue the Lawsuit in 3 ... 2 ...

Around this time last year, the Internet had a collective chuckle when the Dallas Country Club sued the Dallas County Appraisal District, hoping to lower its annual property tax bill. The county appraisers had valued the club's 118-acre property in the heart of the Park Cities at around $15 million, ... More >>

Class Wafare? Fine, Let's Get This Party Started.

The Republican presidential candidates all agree on one thing -- the same mantra between all their lines. They all want us to believe that the extreme polarity of rich and poor in this country is an expression of natural law. The super-rich just have to get super-richer. Everybody else, sadly, must ... More >>

Wherein Ron Natinsky Tries to Explain Why He Didn't Try Harder to Stop Last Year's Tax Hike

Photo by Sam MertenRon Natinsky​Last week, we revisited the Trinity River toll road and convention center hotel referendums with mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky because, well, there just wasn't enough space to explain it all in last week's cover story. Much like we quickly glossed over those is ... More >>

We Need a Mayor Who'll Cut Up City Hall's Credit Card.

Rick Perry's New Sidekick, Grover Norquist

Office of the GovernorGrover Norquist speaks on Tuesday at Manda Machine, along with Rick Perry. It's also nice to see The News's Gromer Jeffers doesn't let boring press conferences keep him from getting his Mardi Gras on.​As mentioned below, Gov. Rick Perry was in town yesterday -- at Manda Machi ... More >>

Tom Leppert for Senate. Let's Talk About That.

​Dear Opposition Researchers working for U.S. Senate campaigns other than that of former-after-midnight Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert: Please contact me about the following things Leppert is going to say about himself in a campaign. First, he is going to say he led two successful referendum campai ... More >>

Kunkle Says As Mayor, He Wouldn't Hike Taxes

​Last week, Ron Natinsky made it official, taking the missus down to City Hall on Valentine's Day to file his petition to run for Dallas mayor. This morning at 10 a.m., David Kunkle will follow in his footsteps, filing his paperwork with the city secretary after gathering enough signatures to get ... More >>

Two District 14 City Council Candidates Promise Not to Raise Taxes But Don't Have Concrete Solutions to Pending Budget Shortfall

James Nowlin​Late last week, we took a look at three of the five potential candidates for Angela Hunt's District 14 city council seat -- Jim Rogers, Vernon Franko and Brian Oley -- one of which (Rogers) said Hunt's decision to run for a fourth and final term caused him to put his campaign on h ... More >>

Top 10 Schutze Columns of '10

​Nothing slow about us, but just when you thought my third annual list of Schutze's best columns wouldn't take shape, Jim's check finally cleared, so I took the time to look back at his fine work throughout the year and picked out the 10 that made me fall in love with him all over again. As in ... More >>

If You Don't Want to Raise Taxes, Better Look At The Kind of City You Do Want.

Is It Finally Curtains for the Trinity River Project?

Liveblogging Today's Council Meeting During Which It'll Vote on FY2010-11 Budget

Friendship-West's Dr. Frederick Haynes, a longtime Leppert ally, spoke in favor of a tax hike: "We cannot ride first class without paying for it."​Hey y'all. I rode the elevator up to City Council Chambers this morning with Carolyn Davis, who is doing this whole Jackie O thing in a fun-collared ... More >>

Doing the Math After Today's Tax Rate Vote

City of Dallas Facebook pageFrom yesterday's Pavaho Pump Station groundbreaking, though feel free to write your own caption​Didn't even get my print-edition column out the door this week before I got a major correction, and this one from a person who would know -- city council member Angela Hunt. ... More >>

Mayor Tom Leppert's Last Ditch Effort to Pick Off One City Council Member Before Wednesday's Big Budget Vote

​While Mayor Tom Leppert has dismissed headlines surrounding the budget as "perpetuated unfortunately by politics," we pointed out that he's been sending out campaign e-mails and mailers in a desperate effort to secure enough votes among his colleagues to prevent a tax hike. Despite his campai ... More >>

News & Notes: More Tax Hike Talk, More DPD Officers Put on Leave, D's Logo And ... Sports!

Some killer filler this early a.m. before the showdown at City Hall:​Speaking of: Ann Margolin has posted to her website "10 Reasons Why a Tax Increase is a Terrible Idea." (And by "terrible," I assume she means terrrrrrible. Anyway.) Margolin, of course, is among the handful of council members jo ... More >>

Liveblogging This Morning's Packed, Star-Studded Budget Workshop at City Hall

​Bon matin, Mes Amis de le Parc Qui Est Unfair. Overflow crowd this morning at the City Council Budget Meeting in 6ES, and Tom Leppert, pin-striped as ever, has just told the packed house to sit tight while they figure out what to do with everyone. Atmosphere is stuffy and contentious -- this is t ... More >>

Leppert: Tax Hike Is "A Very Risky Gamble"

​Mayor Tom Leppert has said it time and again: No tax hike. No way, no how. But in case you missed it the first 29 times, his e-vite to tomorrow morning's council budget briefing serves as yet another just-say-no note in which he takes aim at Angela Hunt and the other seven council members support ... More >>

City Manager Mary Suhm: Call for Tax Hike "Pretty Universal" at Budget Town Halls

Sam MertenMary Suhm​"Do a tax rate increase." That's how City Manager Mary Suhm sums up the feedback from Thursday night's budget meeting at Edna Rowe Elementary. "That's pretty universal when we're at town hall meetings," she says. Despite the overwhelming number of residents pleading for ... More >>

The More Things Change: Yesterday's Council Walkout Brings Back Fond (?) Memories

​Fine print alert! When Mayor Tom Leppert tells you that yesterday's agenda item vote on the city tax rate didn't mean anything, he's got his hand deep in your pocket. It may be fine print, but ask Leppert why the vote was required by state law if it didn't mean anything. Yesterday's council walko ... More >>

Climbing K2: Liveblogging the First City Council Meeting After Summer Break

Patrick Michels​Welcome back to Wednesdays at City Hall, Friends. It's the full council's first voting session at the horseshoe after their summer vacation, and no doubt all of them labored for hours last night trying to figure out what they were going to wear this morning to show their friends ho ... More >>

At the Poor People's March, Davis and Caraway Demanded Tax Hike to Cover Budget Shortfall

Photos by Evan ClintonCarolyn Davis briefly joined John Fullinwider, left, at the Poor People's March in front of City Hall today.​About 75 people gathered outside Dallas City Hall today -- accompanied by a 20-foot banner that said, "To Redeem the Soul of America" -- and accused city leaders of wa ... More >>

Caraway Has Some Interesting "Out of the Box" Ideas to Make the City Money

Patrick MichelsDwaine Caraway​Yesterday I called Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway to discuss the fate of the Dallas Convention Center Arena -- otherwise known as Memorial Auditorium. Because it was Caraway who really pushed for its overhaul in the fall of 2008; matter of fact, he reminds, he only sign ... More >>

Several Council Members Say That, You Know, a Teensy-Tiny Tax Hike Ain't a Bad Idea

​Speaking of the council and the budget and fees versus taxes ...As we mentioned yesterday, Tennell Atkins's budget amendment called for a 1-cent property tax increase -- which I didn't think would get terribly far, given council members, the mayor and the city manager's oft-repeated vows not to r ... More >>

Dot Games Highlight Exercise in Futility at White Rock Lake Last Night as Residents Offer Little to Help Solve City's Budget Crisis

Sam MertenYippee! Red and green stickers!It was standing room only last night as approximately 200 folks battled the heat at White Rock Lake's Winfrey Point for the final of four community budget forums, where several city staffers were on hand to get input on how best to address the city's $190 mi ... More >>

Rasansky Calls Budget "Non-Transparent," Says Increased Fees Are a Tax Increase and Introduces $21.7 Million in Savings

Sam MertenMitchell Rasansky and Linda Koop celebrate the end of his eight years on the council and her birthday with glasses of grape cider. Rasansky later crushed the plastic glass with his foot and yelled, "Mazel tov!"City Manager Mary Suhm, Mayor Tom Leppert and CFO Dave Cook all stressed this mo ... More >>

Harsh City Budget Cuts "Unavoidable" and Only "the Tip of the Iceberg"

While we had Angela Hunt and council member-elect Ann Margolin on the phone yesterday, Unfair Park asked for their evaluations of the city's $190 million budget deficit. Hunt says right now it's hard to pinpoint the cut resulting in the biggest impact to residents because it's early in the process, ... More >>

Council Doesn't Want to Raise Taxes, Cut Key Services to Trim Budget. Good Luck With That.

Sam MertenThe city's budget is $190 million in the hole because of "revenue erosion," according to CFO Dave Cook.The Dallas City Council yesterday afternoon wrapped up a lengthy discussion on how best to tackle the city's $190-million budget deficit by agreeing that a tax increase and making cuts to ... More >>

Tom Leppert Keeps Delivering One Shocker After Another

Tom Leppert: Same As He Ever Was

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert Maintains His Lite-Rock Rhetoric

Judge 'Droid

Wake him up and he votes

City Hall, Where No Does Not Mean No

RIght Cross

Is George W. Bush a conservative? Author Bruce Bartlett doesn't think so,

and saying that cost him his job.

Sugar Ray

Why council members love Mr. Hunt so much

Drunk Tellers

Run down to the City Council Bank. They're giving money away!

Spike Dance

The Hunt Oil people were shakin' their booties at City Hall last week

The Lone Ranger

Right, but not quite right, Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher is reforming county government while infuriating her Republican colleagues

Raise Taxes Now

Plus: Fast and Dumb, Warped Criticism, Recycling Works

Helter Shelter

The city's animal control efforts are running wild, but that's not the critters' fault. It's a people problem. The question now is, will Dallas residents pay to fix it?

Taxing Situation

A tax-protesting CEO enlists his employees in the cause

Busted

Even in these boom times, Dallas is broke, thanks to a city council that has been giving away the store

Nothing ventured

The end of the 1999 legislative session proves that, for Gov. Bush at least, it's better to look good than to do good

Bush's free ride

With a little help from his Democratic pals, George W. Bush has become the GOP front-runner for president. But it's a cold world beyond Texas' borders, and it may take more than charm and luck to carry a good ol' boy to the White House.

Rich man's Robin Hood

GOP budget is greatest-ever transfer of wealth from the Have-Nots to the Haves