Multiple Choice Questions From Haag's Tx Government Unit Iv, Summer Session 2010

Front 1

What are the local governments in TX?

Back 1

1. City governments
2. County governments (Municipal)
3. “Special District” governments

Front 2

2. Which local government was granted home-rule authority by a constitutional amendment in 1933?

Back 2

county govenment

Front 3

3. Which counties grew the fastest between 1990 and 2000?

Back 3

Those near large cities (houston, Austin, etc.)

Front 4

b. Which counties grew the slowest?

Back 4

those to the west

Front 5

4. What is the commissioner’s court?

Back 5

legislative body for the county

Front 6

what are the commissioner's court responsibilities?

Back 6

i. adopting the budget for all county offices
ii. Setting tax rates
iii. Overseeing county programs
iv. Redistricting

Front 7

c. How is the commissioner's court structured?

Back 7

i. Structured of four county commissioners that are elected from single-member districts called precincts.

Front 8

ii. Who is the chief law enforcement officer of a county?

Back 8

Sheriff (elected official).

Front 9

b. What are the chief law enforcement officer's duties?

Back 9

i. Countywide jurisdiction
ii. Operate in unincorporated areas of the county and leave law enforcement in the cities to municipal police departments.
iii. contract to provide law enforcement for small cities.
iv. Hires deputies
v. Serve warrants and civil papers
vi. Conduct criminal investigations
vii. Arrest offenders
viii. Operate the county jail.

Front 10

6. Who is the chief election officer of the county?

Back 10

County Clerk

Front 11

Who is responsible for voter registration?

Back 11

County Tax Assessor-Collector

Front 12

7. What are the criticisms of county government in Texas?

Back 12

a. Structure inflexible
b. Plural executive inefficient –
sheriff may want one thing
different political parties
individual offices pose problems
c. No home-rule authority –
do anything unless prohibited by state
d. Patronage hiring –
hired because you know someone
e. Roads and bridges responsibility of county commissioner in his/her precinct

Front 13

forms of municipal government

Back 13

weak mayor council
strong mayor council
council manager
city commissioner

Front 14

i. mayor shares executive powers

Back 14

a. Weak Mayor-Council:

Front 15

1. mayor has sole executive authority

Back 15

b. Strong Mayor-Council:

Front 16

city council and mayor hire a professional manager to run the city
(most common)

Back 16

c. Council-Manager:

Front 17

1. elected members serve on the legislative body and also

Back 17

d. City Commission:

Front 18

a. Weak Mayor-Council
i. Advantage:

Back 18

1. none

Front 19

Weak mayor council disadvantage

Back 19

1. conflict among members; who to fire/hire

Front 20

b. Strong Mayor-Council Advantage:

Back 20

1. Unifies, sole executive authority

Front 21

strong mayor council disadvantage

Back 21

Problem in small cities with hire/fire

Front 22

c. Council-Manager (Most common) Advantage:

Back 22

1. Managers are generally trained on how to lead a city

Front 23

council manager disadvantage

Back 23

1. Mayor has no executive authority

Front 24

d. City Commission (No Texas city uses this) Advantage:

Back 24

1. Authority given to specific individuals (commissioners) to govern particular policy areas

Front 25

City commission Disadvantage:

Back 25

1. Charges of turf battles and lack of coordination among officials

Front 26

a. A city may expand its municipal boundaries by an area up to 10% of its geographic area in any one year.

Back 26

municipal annexation

Front 27

11. What are the rules concerning municipal annexation?

Back 27

A city must:
A. Develop a 3 year plan for annexation, and not annex the targeted area during the 3 year period.
B. Make an inventory of the current service in the area.
C. Provide all services currently provided in its full-purpose boundaries no later than 2 ½ years (or four ½ years in some circumstances) after annexation
D. Require negotiations and arbitration regarding services.
E. Conduct at least two public hearings.
F. Not reduce level of services in the area from what they were before annexation.

Front 28

Cities use annexation powers to annex narrow strips along highways in order to extend city boundaries and extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs);

Back 28

strip annexation

Front 29

b. What are the limits on the use of strip annexation?

Back 29

i. prohibits the annexation of strips less than 1000 feet

Front 30

13. What are the methods of selecting members of a city council?

Back 30

a. At-large
b. At-large-by place
c. Single member districts
d. Mixed system

Front 31

14. What are the special districts?

Back 31

i. Single purpose government

Front 32

b. Why are special districts created created?

Back 32

created because general purpose governments can’t or won’t act

Front 33

what functions do special districts perform?

Back 33

i. perform single decisions

Front 34

d. What are the problems associated with special districts?

Back 34

i. operate with little operation
ease of creation
obscurity to public

Front 35

public actions that affect economic activity or have economic consequences for individuals or groups (e.g., regulations, subsidies, taxing, and spending).

Back 35

economic policies

Front 36

i. Actions that guide our development as human beings and our relationships to other humans and to our broader environment (e.g., education).

Back 36

social policies

Front 37

2. What are the stages of the public policy process?

Back 37

i. Agenda setting
ii. Policy making
iii. Implementation
iv. Evaluation

Front 38

1.Getting an issue to be considered by the government

Back 38

agenda setting

Front 39

1. Making public policy through one of the branches of government

Back 39

ii. Policy making

Front 40

1. Bureaucracy makes rules and regulations for a policy’s implementation

Back 40

Implementation

Front 41

1. Assessing the policy’s effectiveness

Back 41

evaluation

Front 42

b. What is the sequence of the stages of the public policy process?

Back 42

1. agenda setting
2. policy making
3. implementation
4. evaluation

Front 43

3. What characterizes Texas’s budget?

Back 43

Texas uses a biennial budgeting system, covering a two-year period.

Front 44

4. What are the sources of Texas’s revenue?

Back 44

a. State taxes (47.5.3%)
b. Federal funds: grants-in-aid (30.2%)
c. Licenses, fees, permits, fines, and penalties (11.8%)
d. Interest and investment income (2.7%)
e. Lottery (1.8%)
f. Land income (1.2%)
g. Sales of Goods and Services (0.6%)
h. Settlement of claims (0.6%)
i. Contribution to employee benefits 0.0%)
j. Other (3.6%)

Front 45

5. What are the business taxes in Texas?

Back 45

1.corporate franchise tax, paid by corporations, but not by other businesses.
2. insurance-company taxes
3. utility taxes
4. property taxes

Front 46

b. Which business tax produces the largest percentage of revenue?

Back 46

corporate franchise tax

Front 47

b. What is the history of the lottery as a revenue source?

Back 47

i. In its first year, Texas lottery proceeds accounted for 3.3 percent of all state revenues.
ii. In 1994 and 1995, the lottery produced 4.3 percent of all state revenues
iii. by 2007,it was down to 2.0 percent.

Front 48

Percentage of individual’s income paid in taxes increases as individual’s income increases

Back 48

progressive tax

Front 49

Percentage of individual’s income paid in taxes decreases as individual’s income increases

Back 49

Regressive tax

Front 50

Percentage of individual’s income paid in taxes is the same for all income levels

Back 50

proportional tax

Front 51

the amount of taxes you’re required to pay

Back 51

tax burden

Front 52

9. Who pays the largest percentage of their income in taxes in Texas?

Back 52

a. lowest 20% income- the most poor

Front 53

10. Who pays the smallest percentage of their income in taxes in Texas?

Back 53

a. top 1%- the richest
b. Texas has one of the most regressive taxes

Front 54

11. How does Texas compare with other states in per capita spending?

Back 54

a. Texas is the lowest in the country

Front 55

10. What is the principal source of revenue for public schools in Texas?

Back 55

Local property taxes

Front 56

What did the Texas Supreme Court decide in Edgewood v. Kirby (1989)?

Back 56

Legislature decided it would take property tax revenue from property-wealthy school districts and allocate it to those in property-poor districts,

Front 57

What was the basis for the decision in Edgewood v. Kirby?

Back 57

an effort to equalize the financing of all districts throughout Texas.

Front 58

15. What were the issues in West Orange-Cove CISD v. Alanis (2001)?

Back 58

i. ADEQUACY: state did not provide sufficient funding to meet the requirement for students to pass the TAKS test.
ii. CAP ON PROPERTY TAX FOR M&O: state created an UNCONSTITUTIONAL statewide PROPERTY TAX by setting the CEILING on school districts’ property tax.
iii. EQUITY: state did not provide sufficient funds for building maintenance and construction

Front 59

b. What was the decision of the Texas Supreme Court in West Orange-Cove Cisd v. Alanis?

Back 59

i. Retained Revenue Sharing
ii. New Business Tax—”Business Margins Tax”
iii. Up to 1 percent of gross receipts minus payroll costs or costs of goods sold
iv. Shifts burden from capital-intensive businesses to service providers
v. Increased cigarette tax
vi. Cut property taxes for 2007-2008

Front 60

16. What are the sources for funding higher education in Texas?

Back 60

a. Permanent University Fund (PUF),
b. Available University Fund,
c. Higher Education Fund,
d. tuition deregulation

Front 61

17. How does Texas compare with other states in the incidence of poverty and in programs to assist the poor?

Back 61

a. Texas’s poverty level is one of the highest in the nation, programs are not adequate- not enough money spent

Front 62

What is CHIP?

Back 62

i.Children’s Health Insurance program

Front 63

b. What assistance does Chip provide

Back 63

i. provides health insurance to children 18 and under

Front 64

c. who is eligible for assistance under chip?

Back 64

i. eligible if your parents/guardian are low-income and cannot afford health-care

Front 65

b. What methods are used to elect mayors and council members in TX?

Back 65

i. Mayor-council
ii. Commission
iii. council-manager

Front 66

a. Is the tax system in Texas progressive or regressive?

Back 66

1. The current tax system is regressive because the percentage of tax paid decreases as wealth increases.

Front 67

b. Describe the principal taxes in Texas

Back 67

1. Principle taxes are sales tax and property taxes.

Front 68

who pays the principal taxes in Texas

Back 68

1. Majority comes from sales/consumption taxes
3. the poor have the highest burden because a larger percentage of their income goes to taxes