A new poll from the University of Houston (UH) and Texas Southern University (TSU) finds that, even in today’s highly-charged political environment, there are still a few things that most people agree on. In this case, it’s the fact that housing costs are out-of-control.

Here are a few highlights from the UH/TSU poll, which was conducted between June 20 – July 1 and reflects the responses of 2,257 YouGov respondents aged 18+.

  • “90% of Texans consider housing affordability to be a problem in their part of Texas, with 44% considering it to be a big problem and 46% somewhat of a problem.”
  • “56% of Texans report that the cost of housing represents a source of financial strain for them and their family, with 38% identifying the cost of housing as a major source of strain and 18% identifying the cost of housing as a minor source of financial strain.”
  • “Among Texas homeowners for whom housing costs create a financial strain, the proposition for whom the respective expense represents a major source of financial strain includes the following: utility bills (68%), homeowner insurance (61%), home maintenance (53%), mortgage payments (51%), school property taxes (50%), other local property taxes (50%), home renovations (43%), and HOA dues (21%).”
  • “Among Texas renters for whom housing costs create a financial strain, the proportion for whom the respective expense represents a major source of financial strain includes rent (78%), utility bills (61%), and renter insurance (23%).”

The overwhelming nature of the poll results suggests that most everyone is feeling the strain of today’s affordability crisis and that some aspects, like utility bills, insurance, and taxes, may be more responsible than others. It also suggests that people are ready for solutions—but what might those look like?

Well, at the local level, city, county, and school district officials should consider helping homeowners and renters by:

  1. Adopting the no-new-revenue tax rate, which is: “the tax rate that, if adopted, would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties from one year to the next.”
  2. Delaying going into debt and instead lower the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate, which: “provides funds for payments on the debt that finances a [government’s] facilities.”
  3. Returning uncommitted excess reserves to the public in the form of temporary tax rate reductions.
  4. Voluntarily conducting a third-party efficiency audit of a government’s budget and operations, so as to identify opportunities to reduce the cost of government and pass along the savings to taxpayers.
  5. Ceasing to use municipally-managed utilities as cash cows.

At the state level, the Legislature should give serious consideration to:

  1. Continuing to use surplus to compress school district Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax rates “until they are eliminated over the next decade.”
  2. Preempting local overregulation of the housing market and enabling developers to increase supply. This might entail overriding rules dealing with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), minimum lot size requirements, and height restrictions.
  3. Enacting a local government expenditure limit so as to restrain the local Leviathan and impose fiscal discipline.

With these state and local government reforms in place, policymakers can begin to turn around the affordability crisis gripping the Lone Star State today and help ease the obvious concern that is front-of-mind for just about everyone.