Comptroller Report Examines College, Public School Debt
As the lawsuit involving two-thirds of Texas school districts went to trial this week, the focus was on the effects of state-level funding cuts. But outside the courtroom, public school spending at the local level is under the microscope as well.
The latest in a series of reports on government debt from Comptroller Susan Combs examines colleges and public school districts, the latter of which are responsible for a third of the money owed at the local level.
The report highlights "savings snapshots" of entities with best practices and lists the public schools and colleges with the highest amount of ...
Comments (5)
Proud Texan
Waiting for a report that shows the growth in the debt at the state level, like, for example TxDOT. Texas is spending more on debt service than on road construction for the first time in state history. We keep talking about "cutting spending" but what we are really doing is cutting cash spending and increasing credit card spending. Not a long term solution.
Stuart Greenfield
I would hope that when the Comptroller releases the new estimate in January all these problems will go bye-bye, http://www.texasfiscal.info .
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
Costs continue to be shifted from the state to the local level. At the same time, the state has limited the ability of local governments to raise revenue.
blanca fogleman
I do not think that voters always understand how bonds work. I do not believe that the average voter realizes that when we approve a bond, we are approving a loan and more debt. Susan Combs is right, we should find a way to educate the voter on what they are approving. Sometimes it is a bit scary to realize how much in debt we are as a Nation. The comptroller says everyone uses debt but at some point there is bankruptcy.
GS Crispus
The debt in itself is not really the issue. As Comptroller Combs is alluding, you have to take out debt to make big purchases, whether that means the government does so to pay for/maintain roads or schools. Similarly, we do this with home mortgages and car loans at the individual level.
Again though, the debt is not the real question; why have we have not seen strong GDP growth at the state level? Strong state-level GDP growth would trivialize our debt concerns.
The real issue is who becomes burden with the costs of the debt in this context. In this state, we have shifted the burden of that debt on regressive taxation (sales tax), and property taxes. The middle and lower class is burden with the cost of infrastructure and education. Why do we not expect the most successful to pay taxes comparatively to their success?