Two companies who employ appraisers to represent residential and commercial property owners to challenge appraisals before the Travis County Appraisal Review Board and 159 of their clients have sued the review board and Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler in her official capacity. The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday by attorney Bill Aleshire, alleges that the […]
Courts
Posted inCourts
AG tells Cedar Park no deal on tax exemption
Attorney General Ken Paxton has ruled that the city of Cedar Park is not allowed to set its minimum property tax exemption at $10,000 but must use the $5,000 minimum set by state law. Last spring, the Cedar Park City Council approved an ordinance granting residential property owners a $10,000 exemption on their homesteads. However, […]
Posted inCourts
Austin to appeal state court’s hold on paid sick leave ordinance
The city of Austin is appealing a state court’s decision to put on hold the city’s paid sick leave ordinance, which was set to go into effect Oct. 1. A state appeals court ruled last month that the law couldn’t be enforced until the merits of the case were heard. City Council members approved the […]
Posted inCourts
Texas Supreme Court denies challenges to two ballot items for Austin voters this fall
The Texas Supreme Court has denied petitions from two Austin residents asking that the city rewrite a pair of November ballot measures. Attorney Bill Aleshire filed challenges earlier this month with the court over the wording of a citizen-initiated petition that asked whether the city should hire a third-party auditor to scrutinize the efficiency of […]
Posted inCourts
Troxclair brief opposes city’s ballot language
Writing on city of Austin stationery, City Council Member Ellen Troxclair has filed an amicus brief with the Texas Supreme Court in support of a writ of mandamus seeking to overturn the ballot language Council proposes for a proposition requiring the city to hire an outside auditor to audit the entire city. Troxclair, who is […]
Posted inCourts
City facing two suits over ballot wording
On Friday afternoon, attorney Bill Aleshire filed suit on behalf of a voter against the city of Austin over language City Council adopted to describe the proposition on the November ballot related to CodeNEXT or any other rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code. The suit was filed with the Texas Supreme Court for Allan […]
Posted inCourts
State court puts Austin’s paid sick leave rules on hold
As the city has stepped up work to inform and prepare workers about their rights under the city’s passed-but-not-yet-implemented paid sick leave ordinance, a state appeals court has put the measure on hold while it reviews the legal case against it. On Friday, Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals blocked the ordinance from going into effect […]
Posted inLand Development Code
So, what happens to CodeNEXT now?
Last month, a majority of City Council members, including Mayor Steve Adler, said they did not believe that a ballot initiative proposed by anti-CodeNEXT activists could be put before voters this November. While the initiative had received more than enough signatures to qualify to be on the ballot, city attorneys and outside legal experts that […]
Posted inCourts
Court orders Council to put CodeNEXT petition on the ballot
A district judge has ordered City Council to put a petition on the November ballot that, if passed, would require Land Development Code rewrites, such as CodeNEXT, to be approved by voters. The judge ruled that Council has a duty to put the measure on the ballot in November. To be clear, voters will not be […]
Posted inCourts
Texas usually fights Austin at the Capitol. Lately, the fight is in the courtroom.
The city of Austin has endured several legal jabs from the state in the past couple of months. Recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stepped into a dispute over the makeup of the city’s Planning Commission. A week ago, the city of Austin announced it would no longer enforce its ban on single-use plastic bags […]
Posted inCourts
Groups criticize Paxton for suing commissioners
The people who urged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file suit to remove eight members of the Austin Planning Commission on Monday have nothing but praise for Paxton; however, other more business-oriented groups are not pleased with the legal action, expressing the opinion that the attorney general has waded into a local issue. So, […]
Posted inCourts
Paxton sues eight Planning commissioners
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday received approval from a Travis County district judge to move forward with a lawsuit seeking to remove eight of 13 members of Austin’s Planning Commission. Paxton did so at the urging of opponents of the land use regulation rewrite known as CodeNEXT – including attorneys Fred Lewis and […]