Researching our local debt

Cindy Mallette, Grassroots and Communications Director for Americans for Prosperity—Texas

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the meeting last night with Cindy Mallette!

Here is Cindy’s PowerPoint presentation.

Also, some of the links she discussed in her talk:

Texas Bond Review Board

To do a search for the debt for a city/county/school district or other taxing entity, follow these steps.

1. Go to Texas Bond Review Board and click “Local Government Info” at the top right-hand side of the website.
2. Click “Searchable Local Government Debt Database”
3. Click on any of the topics listed, 1-7, according to the information you’re looking for (city debt/county debt/ISD debt/etc.)
4. As an example, if searching for debt for the City of College Station, click the link next to 1. and select the “City Name.”
5. You want to select “Return All Records At A Time.”
6. Click “Start Search”

A screen will come up that shows every outstanding bond currently held by the taxing entity (in this case, the City of College Station, which as of 8/31/09 was a total [principle + interest] of $339,607,895).

This info comes from an official state agency and is updated once per year. This is a great starting point to find out how much money the taxing entity owes and to begin digging deeper on how the money is being spent.

Tracking down local government spending in your area:

City of Bryan

• Website
• Upcoming meetings
• Previous Meeting Minutes
• Search city documents
• FY2011 Budget

City of College Station

• Website
• Meeting Notices
• “Stay Informed”
• “E-Notifyer”
• Council Agendas and Minutes
• Citizens’ FY2011 Budget (condensed version of actual budget – I strongly urge looking at the REAL thing!):

Other important websites

• College Station ISD
• Bryan ISD
• Brazos County
• School District Snapshot: Important for looking at the health/spending priorities of your local ISD
• Texas Ethics Commission: important for tracking down taxpayer-funded lobbyists hired by your local taxing entities