What do you think of when I say, “property taxes?” Maybe what you pay for Austin ISD pops up first. Maybe your city or county tax bill. But also on that list is a smaller portion for Central Health. As part of our “Civics 101” series here at KUT, which is bringing you stories about local institutions that keep everyday life running in Austin, KUT’s Olivia Aldridge tells us about Central Health, an organization that gets your tax dollars and might give you or your neighbor medical care.
Civics 101
Civics 101: What does a County Judge do?
There are a lot of moving parts and players in our local government systems. Sometimes it can be hard to know exactly what an elected officials job actually is. Take County Judge. As part of KUT’s Civics 101 coverage, we dive into that position with All Things Considered host Jerry Quijano and reporter Andrew Weber.
Civics 101: Who pays for highways?
Texas has a sprawling highway network with more than 200-thousand miles of lanes — almost the distance from Earth to the Moon. And those roads don’t come cheap. The Texas Department of Transportation outspends every other state, devoting about 18-billion dollars a year to highways.
Ever wonder who foots the bill?
All this week the KUT newsroom is focusing on stories that explain how parts of our local government work. To kick things off KUT’s Nathan Bernier takes a look at who pays for highways in Texas.
You can find all of our Civics 101 stories at KUT.org