Texas 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025) Status: In Committee

HB 178 — Relating to efficiency audits for certain political subdivisions.

Last action — Referred to Ways & Means

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced August 15, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 14% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

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AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Texas statutes: Section 140.015, Local Government Code.

  • Section 140.015, Local Government Code

    Sec. 140.015. EFFICIENCY AUDIT. (a) In this section: (1) "Efficiency audit" means an investigation of the operations of a political subdivision to examine fiscal management, efficiency, and utilization of resources. (2) "No-new-revenue tax rate" means the no-new-revenue tax rate calculated under Chapter 26, Tax Code. (3) "Tax year" has the meaning assigned by Section 1.04, Tax Code. (b) This section applies only to a political subdivision other than a school district that is defined as a taxing unit by Section 1.04, Tax Code. (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the governing body of a political subdivision that adopts an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the no-new-revenue tax rate for five consecutive tax years shall conduct an efficiency audit. (c-1) A tax year that occurred before the 2022 tax year is not included in a determination made under Subsection (c) that a political subdivision adopted an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the no-new-revenue tax rate for five consecutive tax years. This subsection expires January 1, 2027. (d) The governing body of a political subdivision all or part of which is located in an area declared a disaster area by the governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, may hold an election to seek voter approval to adopt a tax rate that exceeds the no-new-revenue tax rate during the two-year period following the date of the declaration without conducting an efficiency audit otherwise required under this section. (e) A political subdivision must pay for the costs associated with an efficiency audit required under this section. (f) An auditor selected by the governing body of a political subdivision must maintain independence from the political subdivision and complete the efficiency audit not later than three months after the date the auditor was selected. (g) The governing body of a political subdivision must hold an open meeting to discuss the results of an efficiency audit conducted under this section. Not later than 30 days after the date of the open meeting, the results of an efficiency audit conducted under this section must be posted on the political subdivision's Internet website. (h) A political subdivision shall provide all documents, records, and personnel requested by the auditor as needed to conduct the audit in an efficient manner.

    added

Action History

  1. Referred to Ways & Means

  2. Read first time

  3. Filed

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 183 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (183)

183 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 183 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

taxation finance
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 178?
HB 178 is sponsored by Hillary Hickland.
What is the current status of HB 178?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced August 15, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 178?
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