Recent Developments in Government Compliance

Helping Our Texas Local Government Partners Stay Compliant in a Changing Regulatory Landscape

From new posting deadlines to evolving compliance standards, Texas regulations are always changing. We’ve created this space to highlight recent developments and share tools that help you meet your obligations with confidence.

SB 1851 – Municipal Audit Compliance and Property Tax Limits

Texas law now directly ties municipal audit compliance to a city’s ability to raise property taxes. Under SB 1851, a municipality that fails to complete and properly file its annual audit and financial statement may be prohibited from adopting a tax rate above the no-new-revenue rate.

This development increases legal and financial risk for cities with late audits, missing auditor opinions, or filing deficiencies, particularly during budget and tax adoption cycles.

Texas HB 1522 – New Open Meetings Act Posting Deadline

Texas has a new law, HB 1522, that changes the posting deadline for public meetings. Instead of posting at least 72 hours ahead of time, local governments now have to post notices three business days before the meeting. This can get tricky when a meeting falls right after a weekend or holiday.

The change is intended to increase public awareness and participation in public meetings.  Certain exceptions still apply.

Stay on track with our new resource: the HB 1522 Deadline Calculator Tool, designed to help you determine your exact posting deadline quickly and accurately.