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Texas Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s office announced today that he has launched an investigation into nearly 1,000 cities across the state for potential violations of Texas’ new municipal transparency laws.
The law, SB 1851, requires any municipality raising property taxes to strictly comply with state financial audit and transparency requirements. Paxton has already moved to block the cities of La Marque, Odessa, Tom Bean, and Whitesboro from raising taxes due to noncompliance.
In a press release announcing the sweeping investigation, Paxton stated: “Our cities and municipalities must prioritize transparency and minimizing the tax burden on every citizen across the state. While many cities have already complied with these requirements, I’m launching this review to ensure that the law is universally followed, taxpayers are respected, and local government is accountable to all Texans.”
Virtually all of Texas’ major cities are included in the probe, among them Houston, Galveston, San Antonio, Waco, Dallas, and more.