Tx Government Chapters 10-14 Test Bank
When you pay your motor vehicle registration fees, the money goes into which fund?
State Highway Fund
Why is the price of oil important for the budget of the State of Texas?
Texas collects tax revenue on all oil removed from the ground based on a percentage of the market value of a barrel of oil. Higher prices raise more revenue, and lower prices less revenue.
Article 3, Section 49a of the Texas Constitution, also known as the pay-as-you-go limit, requires that
Texas maintain a balanced budget, meaning that spending from the General Revenue Fund cannot exceed projected available revenue.
In Texas, ________ create(s) special purpose districts.
Texas voters in the areas that will be covered
________ is a nondedicated revenue account and is the state's primary operating fund.
The General Revenue Funds budget
What happens if money needs to be transferred from one agency to another and the legislature is not in session to authorize this transfer?
The governor can propose the transfer and the LBB can approve the proposal.
What is preemption?
The legislature's power to overrule ordinances or actions of local home-rule cities.
Authorized by voters in 1991, the Texas state lottery generates a sizeable sum for the state budget. Which of the following statements regarding the Texas lottery is true?
The lottery is played by large numbers of people from all social classes.
What is the function of the 24 councils of government in Texas today?
They are a regional board meant to coordinate local planning and development.
Why are Texas counties important?
They provide the main form of government in rural areas.
A major factor in the increase in preemption is the partisan split between a state legislature controlled by Republicans and major city governments controlled by Democrats.
True
Community colleges in Texas are allotted their own special purpose districts.
True
County governments are most important for administering rural areas throughout Texas.
True
Fewer than 10 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in special purpose district elections.
True
Home-rule cities are able to set a maximum property tax rate of $2.50 per $100 valuation.
True
Money from the State Highway fund can be used to acquire rights of way for roadways.
True
One of the proposed changes to public pensions in Texas is to increase the required years of service to be eligible to receive a pension.
True
One problem with special purpose districts is that sometimes local government officials work in relative obscurity, avoiding media and public scrutiny.
True
Public education in Texas is funded through both the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and the Available School Fund (ASF).
True
San Antonio and Dallas both have council-manager forms of government.
True
Texas maintains a balanced budget because the state constitution requires it.
True
The bulk of Federal Funds expenditures is in two areas: health and human services and education.
True
The primary sources of funding for special purpose districts are property taxes and user fees.
True
The state auditor's office is responsible for making sure that agencies are in compliance with their budgets.
True
In Texas, county governments are responsible for which of the following tasks?
administration of social services
In large Texas counties, the ________ prepares the county budget.
auditor
The debate over preemption between local self-governance and control by the state government echoes which of the following:
debates between the state governments and the federal government about which level of government should make governing decisions
According to Texas Constitution (Article 3, Section 51a), Texas cannot spend more than _________ of the state budget in any two-year period to help needy dependent children or their caretakers.
1 percent
What is the main difference between a home-rule city and a general-law city?
A general-law city is chartered for localities with a population of fewer than 5,000 persons.
________ is a unit of government that performs a single service in a limited geographic area.
A special district
The ________ is a dedicated fund established by the constitution for the support of public education in the state.
Available School Fund (ASF)
Which of the following statements about county government in Texas is accurate?
County government in Texas varies in importance; some areas rely on it heavily, others much less so.
What happens when a city council uses single-member districts?
Each member of the city council represents a specific "district" of the city and is elected by residents of that geographical area.
According to Article 3, Section 49a (Pay-as-You-Go Limit) of the Texas Constitution, state agencies are allowed to take on debt, but only for one project at a time.
False
According to the Texas Constitution, only the Texas legislature is permitted to borrow money using capital appreciation bonds.
False
All cities in Texas with pension funds have sufficient funding to meet their obligations to be able to pay retirees.
False
All large cities in Texas have structures of government that give strong executive powers to the mayor.
False
Although Texas must maintain a balanced budget, the legislature has a lot of flexibility and control over the state budget.
False
Because the budget process in Texas operates on a two-year cycle, Texas legislators have adequate time to gather information, carefully analyze it, and craft a detailed and accurate state budget.
False
Cities are primarily responsible for providing indigent health care.
False
Commissioner governments are designed to run school districts and other special purpose districts throughout the state.
False
Constables are appointed by the county sheriff.
False
Federal matching funds for a program are not dependent on how much the state also contributes to that program.
False
In Texas, special purpose districts are run by a board of trustees appointed by the governor.
False
In order to be a general-law city, the population of the city must be larger than 5,000.
False
One of the problems with Texas government is that there are no regional councils that promote coordinated planning across local governments.
False
Since each county in Texas is required under the one person, one vote doctrine to have approximately the same number of residents, county lines must be redrawn every ten years as part of the redistricting process after the census.
False
Since most county officials are appointed, they are only accountable to the members of the county commissioners' court.
False
Texas is known as a high tax state; because of this, it is a good place to do business.
False
The Rainy Day Fund is more properly known as the National Research University Fund.
False
The county commissioners' court has original jurisdiction for cases involving violation of county laws.
False
The county commissioners' court is responsible for prosecuting violations of law that occur outside of the city limits but within the county lines.
False
The state legislature can impose a personal income tax without requiring voter approval.
False
There is no mechanism available under the current budgetary system in Texas to shift monies between agencies or programs when the legislature is not in session.
False
When crafting a final legislative budget, the legislature works from the governor's draft budget rather than the Legislative Budget Board's draft budget.
False
When the federal government reimburses Texas for monies spent in program such as Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, these reimbursements go into which fund?
Federal Funds
The ________ budget is comprised of funds for dedicated revenues that target money for specific purposes.
General Revenue-Dedicated Funds
Universities that are not eligible to receive funding from the Permanent University Fund (PUF), are eligible for funding from the
Higher Education Fund (HEF)
As the number of urban areas grew in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the management of local affairs became such a growing burden on the state legislature that it passed the
Home-Rule Charter Amendment in 1912.
Why must the Texas legislature maintain a balanced budget?
It is required by the Texas Constitution.
What is a key problem with counties in Texas?
Many of them are too small and underpopulated to function well.
What is the level of popularity of the commissioner system of city government in Texas today?
No city in Texas today has a pure commissioner system, but a handful claim a variation of the system.
While many of the sources of revenue in Texas are dedicated to specific purposes, designated as "nondedicated," or come from the federal government, there are some funds that are not included in the specific budget categories. Where do we classify these funds?
Other Funds
Flood control is managed through special purpose districts because
flooding is seldom contained to a single city or county.
According to the Dillon Rule doctrine,
general-law cities and towns are much more constrained than home-rule cities, and cannot take any action unless explicitly authorized by a law passed by the state.
If you live in a city that can set property tax rates up to $2.50 per $100 valuation and may have the power to annex land adjacent to the city, then you live in a city governed by
home-rule charter.
Employee pensions are an issue for all levels of government in Texas. Which of the following is a change that has been recently implemented as a way to make pension plans more economically sound?
increased retirement age
One of the most important social services provided by counties is
indigent health care.
One goal of the deferred retirement option plan (DROP) was to
keep Dallas police officers and firefighters working on the job instead of retiring and collecting their pension after 20 years of service.
If you live outside city limits, water, sewer, sanitation, and electricity services are offered by
municipal utility districts (MUDs).
Community college districts and fire-prevention districts are examples of
non-school special purpose districts.
Federal money is an important part of the Texas budget, but monies that Texas receives from the federal government
often come with strings attached.
The Permanent School Fund (PSF) was established to provide funds for ___________________ on the basis of _________________.
primary and secondary schools in Texas; student attendance
Special districts in Texas are primarily paid for by revenue generated by
property taxes and user fees
Special purpose districts were initially designed to help develop poor and rural areas of Texas. However, many people are now concerned that the system is being abused because
real estate developers have figured out a way to develop the infrastructure for new developments but pass the costs on to future owners of the property.
When thinking about the system of public financing through these various budgets and funds, it is important to remember that
the legislature does not have direct control of most of the money in the state budget.
The Legislative Budget Board is chaired by
the lieutenant governor.
Overall, the tax system in Texas is generally considered to be regressive, which means that
the tax burden consumes a greater percentage of income received by lower-income individuals.
To whom are most county officials most responsible, and how?
the voters, through the electoral process
Mayors are elected using at-large elections because
they represent the entire geographical area of the city rather than one specific district.
The National Research University Fund (NRUF) was established through a constitutional amendment to provide a source of funding for
universities seeking to achieve national prominence as research institutions.
Which universities are eligible to receive monies from the Permanent University Fund (PUF)?
universities that are part of the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems
If there is a budget deficit during the biennium, then money can be used from the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF)
with the approval of three-fifths of the members of both the Texas House and Texas Senate.
What is the composition of the county commissioner's court?
a county judge who is elected countywide and presides over the meetings, and four county commissioners who are each elected to represent about one-quarter of the population of the county
The purpose of the Biennial Revenue Estimate is to provide
a detailed forecast of total revenues that the state is expected to take in over the next biennium.
Suppose you were trying to reform your city's government so that it better reflected the ethnic and racial diversity of your city and with leadership that is more accountable to voters. Which of the following forms of city government would most likely achieve these goals?
a mayor-council form of government with single-member districts
A school district is
a special district.
Who collects the taxes owed to the county?
county tax assessor-collector
Cities and towns in Texas often see rapid population growth. Such growth requires school districts to quickly expand. In this type of situation, school districts use __________________ to borrow the necessary funds to achieve this goal.
capital appreciation bonds (CABs)
A ________ form of government is one in which public policies are developed by the city council and executive and administrative functions are assigned to a professional city manager.
council-manager
Lesser criminal cases are generally prosecuted by _______________, while the more serious criminal cases tend to be prosecuted by ______________.
county attorneys; district attorneys
Who is responsible for construction and maintenance of county roads and bridges?
county commissioners
In a mayor-council form of government, the mayor ____________________ while the city council __________________.
serves as chief executive officer of the city; serves as the legislative body for the city
The chief law-enforcement officer in county governments is the
sheriff.
Which of the following is the most common form of local government in Texas?
special districts
What type of government is called hidden government because people often do not know it exists?
special purpose districts
Compared to other states, Texas tends to spend a relatively small amount of money on programs that are jointly funded by the state and federal governments. Because of this,
the amount of money that Texas receives in matching funds and grants from the federal government is relatively low as compared to other states.
One significant component of the budget process that is relatively unique to Texas is
the constitutional mandate that Texas legislators write a budget every two years.
If you want to get married and need to get a marriage license, or need to get a copy of a birth or death certificate, which office do you need to contact?
the county clerk where you are getting married, or where the death or birth occurred
In the commissioner form of government,
the legislative and executive functions are performed by the elected commissioners.
