Texas Has Five ‘Sinkhole Cities’

[Elderberry]

Texas Scorecard By Robert Montoya March 7, 2025

Public servants use accounting tricks and outdated information to hide the true state of city finances.

A report from Truth in Accounting revealed that three of Texas’ biggest cities are in solid financial shape, but five are struggling. The pro-taxpayer group urges people to push public officials to ditch “outdated” accounting practices and embrace clearer, more open financial reporting.

In their Financial State of the Cities 2025 report, Truth in Accounting studied eight Texas cities and found their cumulative debt is a steep $37.45 billion. Austin had the highest share with $9.8 billion in debt, while Plano had the least at $467.9 million.

“The data confirms what most people suspect—Texas’ local governments are addicted to debt. And that has major consequences for today’s taxpayers and tomorrow’s Texans,” James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation stated.

The cities contribute to the mountainous $621.7 billion debt of all the 75 cities Truth in Accounting reported on.

Of these 75, Truth in Accounting (TIA) found that 54 are “Sinkhole Cities.” That means these cities didn’t have enough money to pay their bills. Five of these 54 sinkhole cities are in Texas. TIA figured out each city’s total debt, its budget shortfall, and how much of that deficit each taxpayer owes. 



Dallas was ranked among the bottom 10 least fiscally healthy cities TIA studied. This put them among Cincinnati, New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City.

“Once again, Truth in Accounting’s State of the Cities report for 2025 shows that many cities in Texas, including major cities like Dallas and Houston are spending into oblivion, and forcing their residents to shoulder an unsustainable and crushing tax burden,” wrote Andrew McVeigh, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.

For their report, TIA examined the annual comprehensive financial reports of these cities, which—except for three non-Texas cities—were dated 2023.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/report-texas-has-five-sinkhole-cities/

Citizens can read TIA’s full Financial State of the Cities 2025 report here.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The cities contribute to the mountainous $621.7 billion debt of all the 75 cities Truth in Accounting reported on.

I hardly believe that $12 billion debt among them is contributing as much trauma as the mountains of debt the big red state cities have, which include:

A crucial part of these debts is unfunded pensions ($192.1 billion) and other post-employment benefits ($136.4 billion) for city employees. TIA found that such debts today make up more than half of American city governments’ non-capital debt. This type of debt comes weighed with “risks and uncertainties” usually out of the control of lawmakers, taxpayers, and plan managers. 

This stuff is simply kicked down the road for some other politician to deal with.