Dallas has a whole lot due to the energy and telecom sectors.

Absolutely. What’s more, they have an enormous influence over who gets to run for office and how much positive press they receive. And yet the taxes in Dallas are still some of the highest in the state. Almost as though taxes pay for the public utilities that make Dallas a major energy/telecom hub, and the exceptionally wealthy consider this tax money an investment rather than a loss or a theft.

It’s pretty much the same for every city in Texas.

The dirty truth about Texas suburbs is that they’ll have shockingly high taxes and fees for the purpose of building up local infrastructure. Houston Chronicle did an article a few months back about how the Texas tax system raised more per-capita than California, thanks in large part to the property tax base that has seen housing prices skyrocket over the last decade.

The big difference between these red and blue states isn’t how much money is raised but where it is spent.