Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Launch­es Statewide Inves­ti­ga­tion of Near­ly 1,000 Texas Cities to Ensure Munic­i­pal Trans­paren­cy and Stop Ille­gal Tax Increases

Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a major initiative to ensure the hardworking people of Texas receive municipal budget transparency and that municipalities do not engage in unlawful tax increases. As part of the review, Attorney General Paxton has requested financial documents and information from nearly 1,000 Texas cities to date, and that number will continue to grow. 

SB 1851 is a recently enacted state law that bars cities who do not strictly follow Texas’s financial statement audit and transparency requirements from raising taxes above the no-new-revenue rate. To enforce that law, Attorney General Paxton previously sent letters to La Marque, Odessa, Tom Bean, and Whitesboro to stop their unlawful tax raises. During those investigations, it became apparent that cities across the state routinely fail to comply with these long-standing requirements. Under his new authority, Attorney General Paxton has launched this initiative to not only act in response to citizen complaints, but also actively request documents and audit information from Texas cities to ensure they are in compliance with the law. Any cities not in compliance put themselves at significant legal risk, and any city who has received an email information request from the Office of the Attorney General should promptly respond. 

“Local officials will not be allowed to ignore the law, cover up their finances, and burden Texans with never-ending tax increases,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Our cities and municipalities must prioritize transparency and minimizing the tax burden of 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.”   

Attorney General Paxton’s review includes some of the largest cities in the state, including Houston, Galveston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, McAllen, Beaumont, Amarillo, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Texarkana, Brownsville, Waco, and Tyler. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General has created a complaint form that Texans can fill out if they believe local officials are violating SB 1851’s audit requirements. The complaint form can be found here.