According to recent polling, 84% of Texans consider property taxes to be a “major burden” on themselves and their families. This heavy strain exists because local governments are spending at rates that consistently outpace both inflation and population growth. With nearly 5,000 property taxing entities in the state auditing these local governments is the essential foundation for achieving meaningful tax relief.

Fortunately, a new model for government accountability is gaining traction across the nation. The federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has demonstrated how leveraging resources like artificial intelligence can quickly and effectively identify waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies.

New research from TPPF’s James Quintero and John Bonura examines how other states are already adopting this model to protect taxpayers.

In Iowa, for example, a government efficiency task force recently highlighted a review that led to $250 million in savings and the reduction of cabinet-level agencies from 37 to 16.

Meanwhile, Florida’s state-led DOGE initiative uncovered nearly $1 billion in waste, fraud, or abuse across just five local governments. Through these local audits, Florida’s DOGE exposed egregious spending, including:

  • The City of Jacksonville paid $75,000 for a “hologram” of its mayor to greet airport travelers.
  • Broward County spent $890,000 on DEI training that pushes gender fluidity and transgender ideology.
  • The City of Orlando spent $460,000 to count trees as part of a “tree inventory”.

Exposing this level of wasteful spending proves that before local governments raise taxes, they ought to ruthlessly scrutinize their budgets.

To help achieve this goal, it’s important to note that Texas has its own budding government efficiency effort at the state level that is ripe for expansion. During the 89th Legislature, the passage of the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act created the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO) to cut red tape within state agencies. In just one year of state-level operations, TREO processed 4,177 rules, identified $123.2 million in cost savings, and offered 437 suggested regulatory reductions.

Given the success of this new venture and the need to truly relieve the squeeze of high property taxes driven by unchecked local spending, policymakers should expand TREO’s reach to include conducting government efficiency audits of school district, city, county, and special purpose district budgets and operations. In so doing, the Texas Legislature ca help uncover waste, fraud, and abuse that have accrued over time, especially in the aftermath of an avalanche of pandemic aid.

The paper concludes that “a statewide DOGE evaluation [would ensure] Texas citizens can see where their tax dollars are truly going and how they are being spent by their locally elected officials.”

By building on the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act’s existing framework and applying its provisions to local governments, Texas can provide ultimate accountability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility to its citizens.

 

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