Photo: Moment RF
Turns out many of Texas' major cities are facing huge deficit and debt problems. The city of Houston alone is dealing with a $330 million budget shortfall, but believe it or not, that doesn't even put them in the top five.
According to data from Truth in Accounting, even El Paso has a bigger budget shortfall at nearly $530 million. The biggest shortfall by a major city in Texas is Dallas, coming in at nearly $6 billion. The city of Austin is right behind them, with a deficit of nearly $6 billion.
James Quintero with the Texas Public Policy Foundation warned that these cities are just the tip of the iceberg. He pointed out that other localities like school districts are also taking on huge amounts of debt. He said, "The average Texan owes about $15,500 for their share of government debt."
He then called on the legislature to take action here and rein in local jurisdictions that seem to be addicted to overspending. He suggested the state implement spending limits for these jurisdictions saying, "We need to get spending under control in order to see some positive consequences for Texas and debts."
Quintero went on to praise a measure that's currently been proposed in the legislature to limit a city's spending growth to population and inflation growth. He says that would force local governments to spend more carefully and implement more cost control measures.