Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a two-step enforcement effort aimed at ensuring cities comply with a recently enacted state law governing property tax transparency and financial reporting, an initiative that has already affected several municipalities and now extends to hundreds more statewide.
The effort began earlier this fall with targeted letters sent to a small number of cities, followed in December by a sweeping request for financial records from nearly 1,000 Texas municipalities. Paxton’s office has said the goal is to enforce Senate Bill 1851, a law passed during the 89th Texas Legislature’s regular session in 2025 that conditions a city’s authority to raise property tax revenue on compliance with audit and reporting requirements.
Assistant City Manager Jared Mayfield said Murphy was in compliance with the new law and had not received a letter from the attorney general’s office…