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Brandon Formby works with The Texas Tribune’s beat editors and reporters to bring Texans the news, analysis and explanatory journalism they need to put pressing issues into perspective. Previously, as an editor on the news desk, he helped steer coverage of legislative sessions, natural disasters, prolonged power outages, mass shootings and the coronavirus pandemic. As a reporter, he covered urban affairs. Before joining the Tribune in 2016, he reported on transportation, politics and local government for The Dallas Morning News. Brandon grew up in Plano and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas Tech University. He is based in Austin.
Lawmakers moved closer Monday to giving some — but not all — Texans more say over the property taxes they must pay cities, counties and special-purpose districts each year. Full Story
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The lower chamber wants to set the threshold requiring voter approval of some property tax collection increases at 6 percent. The Senate put the trigger at 4 percent. Full Story
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Legislation finally began reaching Gov. Greg Abbott's desk on Friday — with five days left in the special session — but there's still much progress to be made on Abbott's 20-item agenda. Full Story
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Once the lone dissident against an army of elected officials, the land-use attorney made a name for herself pushing back against North Texas' long-planned Trinity Parkway. After 11 years, her fight paid off. Full Story
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After a proposal to give a property tax exemption to Purple Heart recipients hit a snag on the House floor Monday, a committee considered a more radical idea: eliminating school district property taxes altogether. Full Story
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At the likely halfway point of a 30-day special session, the Texas House and Senate are taking very different approaches to the governor's sprawling agenda, and they could be headed for another standoff on a so-called "bathroom bill." Full Story
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The governor held the first of three scheduled meetings with Texas mayors on Wednesday — but there's no word yet on whether he'll meet with mayors from the state's five largest cities. Full Story
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The House Ways and Means Committee spent hours discussing dozens of bills that collectively go far beyond the upper chamber’s major property tax bill poised to pass this week. Full Story
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The Texas Senate endorsed a bill allowing for property tax rate elections if revenues would exceed 4 percent of what what was taken in the year before. The House is slated to take up that matter and nearly three dozen other property tax and appraisal bills. Full Story
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When state senators revive legislation on Saturday that could require voter approval of city and county property tax rates, lawmakers will also consider something new: limiting how much money local governments spend. Full Story
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