The Texas House and Senate differ on how to cut property taxes. Here’s what their proposals say.
Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.
On the margins of downtown San Antonio, a maligned neighborhood mobilizes to save itself
Born of segregation and redlining, the near West Side has long been mostly Latino, mostly low-income. Redevelopment pressures are closing in, and neighbors are working to keep it affordable for some of the city’s poorest residents.
Why some Texas cities and counties had to return millions of dollars meant to help renters during the pandemic
For some local relief programs, a lack of staffing, political support and effective community outreach got in the way of spending federal funds to prevent evictions, a new report found. More than $30 million went unspent and had to be returned.
City housing department budget set to triple
The housing department’s proposed jump from $48.8 million in the current budget year to $150.2 million for FY 2023 is fueled almost entirely by the city’s first-ever housing bond, which voters approved in May. The $99.9 million in bond money is split between producing and preserving affordable housing.
Seven Oaks tenants and activists pack into city hall, calling on mayor for support
A group of tenants and activists has been pushing against what it sees as “unfair” eviction notices and subpar conditions at Seven Oaks Apartments, such as air conditioning issues, a lack of hot water, water damage, and roaches.
A neighborhood’s new anti-Section 8 rules will push many Black residents out of a North Texas suburb
Landlords in Texas don’t have to accept renters who receive federal housing assistance, but a Denton County community is taking it a big step further: making most of the town off limits to Section 8 tenants.
Some landlords got a piece of Texas’ $2 billion in rent relief money — and evicted their struggling tenants anyway
It’s unclear whether landlords face any penalties from state agencies for improperly evicting tenants while receiving rent relief dollars intended to help those tenants stay housed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A year after feds allocate funds, Texas launches program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure because of COVID-19
Twenty-five states, including California and New York, preceded Texas in getting federally backed programs up and running to help homeowners suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19.
City sets 10-year goal of producing, preserving 28,049 affordable housing units
The Strategic Housing Implementation Plan - or SHIP - was approved unanimously with one abstention and a second councilwoman away from the dais. At its core, the SHIP is about helping 95,000 Bexar County households who are most at risk of housing instability.
City slams ‘Ousted’ report on its code enforcement practices as ‘fundamentally flawed’
The report, “Ousted: The City of San Antonio’s Displacement of Residents through Code Enforcement Actions,” found 626 orders to vacate and orders to demolish occupied San Antonio homes between 2015 and 2020. Meanwhile, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin issued only 16 orders between them.
San Antonians say mental health, housing, and infrastructure among best ways to spend pandemic relief money
In a Thursday presentation to council members, city staff showed the results of the various surveys, town hall meetings, and meetings with the Small Business Advocacy Commission from the previous months.