Amerians For Prosperity applauds new taxpayer protections

AFP Applauds New Taxpayer Protections at the Local Level

AUSTIN — Americans for Prosperity welcome’s today’s announcement from Comptroller Susan Combs’ office that taxpayers will soon have the same protections at the local level they’ve enjoyed at the state level.

AFP-Texas is particularly excited about the launch of a new Web site, Texas Transparency Checkup (www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/checkup), which will show taxpayers how their money is spent by cities, counties, school districts and other taxing entities. The site also promises to grade these entities on their level of transparency with the public.

“We’re glad that the Comptroller’s Office is improving upon the state transparency success stories and taking them to the local level,” said Peggy Venable, AFP state director. “AFP has been pushing hard for this kind of transparency for five years now. We’re concerned about growing local debt and the use of taxpayer dollars to fund lobbyists who work to defeat taxpayer protections.”

Right now, Texas ranks third among the most populous states in per-capita local government debt. Local spending is growing four times faster than personal income, and local government debt is growing five times faster than taxpayers’ ability to pay.

AFP encourages Texans to take advantage of this new resource aimed at helping protect their pocketbooks. Other good resources are the Texas Bond Review Board Web site, www.brb.state.tx.us, which gives information on how much debt local governments are carrying and the Texas Education Agency’s Snapshot of school district spending, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/snapshot.

“We applaud the Comptroller’s Office for their ongoing efforts to make government spending more accountable,” Venable said. “The taxpayers are well served.”