“Houston, we have a problem.” This paraphrase of the 1975 message from Apollo 13 has become synonymous with recognition of a crisis situation. Fifty years ago, this crisp statement triggered the most incredible rescue effort in history. It required combined dedication from many participants to successfully recover and turn a disaster into triumph. Today, counties face a similar challenge.
The loss of oxygen on Apollo 13 threatened the continued existence of the crew and their ability to perform their duties. Today, a similar loss of essential support threatens the ability of counties to perform their duties for their citizens. Commander Lovell and his crew were dependent upon NASA to provide the tools and support to survive and complete their mission. Counties are dependent upon the legislature to provide the necessary tools for essential local services.
Under Article V, Section 18, Texas Constitution, the Commissioners Court “shall exercise such powers and jurisdiction over all county business, as is conferred by this Constitution and the laws of the state….” While the 1876 Constitution provides the basic structure of county government, the legislature controls the implementation of the constitutional structure through its power to adopt the laws of the state. Early decisions by the Texas Supreme Court held that counties have no independent ordinance power and must derive their authority from the constitution and statutes.
The success of this relationship depends upon mutual respect and trust. For 100 years, the geographic separation and dispersed population in Texas, combined with a conservative attitude and distrust of concentrated power, assured a prominent role for county government. With limited state revenues and meager bureaucracy, the state relied upon counties to provide essential services. The part-time legislature avoided over-reaching mandates and “one-size-fits-all” legislation. Local officials were trusted to devise local solutions.
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton. Recent years have seen a serious erosion of trust and respect for local officials by the state legislature. Encouraged by hyper-partisan special interests and fueled by unlimited contributions from billionaires, the legislature has embarked on a program of dictatorial policies and diminished local decision-making. This program is designed to promote a concentration of power in state leadership with a reduction or elimination of local influence. Unfortunately, this negative effort has successfully diminished the ability and willingness of experienced local leaders to participate in the legislative process. In the past few years, our state has lost the benefit of many dedicated former county and city officials, like Kel Seliger, Eddie Lucio, and now Robert Nichols.
“We have met the enemy, and they are us.” – Pogo. The temptation to exploit state or federal power to the detriment of local government is not a new phenomenon. While our system of government is founded on limited government through a division of powers, many examples exist of efforts to corrupt the system through a process of denying essential support to local government. This trend is most evident in California. With the adoption of Prop 13 in 1978, local governments were stripped of the ability to fund local needs through the property tax. This created a complete dependency upon the state government for funding.
“For all its small government pretensions, Proposition 13 ended up centralizing California’s financing, shifting them from local to state government.” – The Economist, 2011. While the California constitution contains a requirement that the state reimburse local governments for unfunded mandates, the state currently owes over $1.5 billion to its local governments for these mandates. A program of slow starvation of local governments concentrates power in the legislature. This effort is now underway in Texas. With revenue caps and budget limitations, the legislature is attempting to force counties to seek funding from the state, eliminating independence of county officials.
This “Californization” of Texas counties has been embraced by our state leadership under the guise of reducing the tax burden. The false pretense that county property taxes are the major cause of increased taxation is refuted by reports from the state comptroller. The state collects over $250 billion in revenue each year with over $81 billion from over 60 different taxes and fees. State taxes have increased 58.6 percent in the past 10 years, averaging 5.86 percent per year. Counties collect $14.17 billion in property taxes, an increase of 42.8 percent in the past 10 years, averaging 4.28 percent per year. Most county taxes are required to fund state mandates. State taxes are collected silently through increased sales costs of products and services, while property taxes are transparently collected through annual statements. This has enabled the legislature to use property tax caps as an excuse to restrict the independence of local officials. Meanwhile, Texas continues to rank 40th among the states in total tax burden, largely due to the lack of a state income tax and efficient local governments.
“It is not paranoia if they are really out to get you,” – Persons of Interest. The litany of efforts to restrict county officials and force subservience to the state grows with each legislative session. Pre-emption bills attempt to exclude local control in diverse areas, including economic development, disaster prevention, overweight trucks, law enforcement contracts, land use, fireworks, and budget authority. Although counties have been denied the ability to prohibit development within the floodplain, some state leaders have attempted to blame county officials for flood disasters. Finally, certain legislators and special interest groups continue efforts to deny county associations the ability to collectively communicate with the legislature.
As discussed in the two previous columns, counties are definitely in a hole, although not of our making. It is time to start filling this hole. It is time to expose the misinformation and social media propaganda and efforts to disenfranchise local voters from the ability to determine local priorities. It is time to hold state leaders accountable for this erosion of local decision-making and concentration of state power.
