Good morning,

Holy scripture recognizes property ownership as an essential human right, which makes the burden of property taxes even more nefarious. You'll find more on that thought below.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, August 1, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

TxDOT Refuses To Return Land It No Longer Needs

• After refusing to sell “surplus property” back to the former owner, the Texas Department of Transportation is now before the state's supreme court in a case that could reshape eminent domain policy. Travis Morgan explains the case.
    
• In 2013, TxDOT sent an offer to purchase land in Tomball as part of the construction of a new road. When the owners refused to sell, the state began eminent domain proceedings to acquire the property. Rather than fight the state in court, the owners agreed to sell the property at $1.05 per square foot.
      
• Years later, TxDOT determined a section of the property was “surplus land” and no longer necessary for public use. Yet, the agency refused to sell the land back to the former owners, claiming that because the land was sold in a legal settlement, the Texas Property Code repurchase laws do not apply.
      
• The landowners argue they settled only because of the threat of eminent domain.
       
• A Harris County civil court ruled in favor of the TxDOT, but the Fourteenth Court of Appeals reversed it. Now, the Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to hear the case.

University of North Texas Settles Free Speech Case

• As Adam Cahn reports, the University of North Texas will be paying three-quarters of a million dollars to a professor who claims to have suffered professional and emotional damage following accusations of racism leveled at him in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
    
• The dispute arose following a discussion in an obscure academic music journal edited by Robert Jackson. Multiple professional organizations condemned Jackson’s work. A group of UNT music students demanded Jackson’s firing, alleging he was “particularly racist and unacceptable.”
      
• The charges came because Jackson refused to condemn a 19th century music theorist, and even defended aspects of the long-dead man's work.
      
• While UNT did not fire Jackson, it removed him from his position as editor of the journal. He sued for defamation and violation of his First Amendment rights. 

Homosexual Group Reports Future Changes Due to ‘Current Political Climate’

• Austin Pride has announced that the organization's funding has declined due to the “current political climate,” which will change how the organization and its events operate in the future. Addie Hovland has the story.
    
• The LGBTQ group posted to social media that its August event "will look and feel a bit different." Despite being known for sexually provocative activities, the organization welcomes children—letting those six and under enter for free.
      
• Disgusting.
        
• "For years, radical gender and sexual ideology have been force-fed to the public, paraded through our streets, and targeted at our children, all under the banner of 'inclusion,'" said Brady Grey of the Texas Family Project. "But the tide is turning. Across America, and right here in Texas, families are waking up and communities are pushing back."

Despite Union Objection, Houston ISD's Pay-For-Performance Model Can Proceed

• A Harris County judge has denied a teachers’ union request for a temporary restraining order against the Houston Independent School District. This means HISD officials will be able to move forward with a performance-based teacher compensation plan for the 2025–26 school year. Joseph Trimmer has the details.
       
• The legal dispute between the Houston Federation of Teachers and Houston ISD centers on a new state law that establishes the Teacher Retention Allotment. The union alleges the district has failed to implement the raises as required, opting instead for a system that awards raises based on performance metrics.
        
• HISD contends it is in compliance, citing provisions that allow districts to apply for an Enhanced Teacher Incentive Allotment, which supports merit-based pay. Houston ISD's new compensation framework—unveiled in April—sets base salaries between $64,000 and $101,000, largely tied to teacher evaluations and student outcomes.
       
• The judge noted that the new funding law does not take effect until Sept. 1, and that the district has not yet received the associated state funds. The ruling means teachers will not receive the across-the-board raises sought by the union at this stage of the case. 

Double Murder Suspect Taught in Texas Elementary School

• A teacher charged with murdering a mom and dad at a state park in Arkansas in front of their two young children previously taught at a North Texas elementary school. As Erin Anderson reports, the suspect was allowed to resign from Lewisville ISD in 2023 amid allegations of inappropriate behavior with students.  
    
• Now, Andrew James McGann has been arrested in Arkansas following a five-day manhunt and was charged with two counts of capital murder. He is accused of killing Cristen and Clinton Brink at Devil’s Den State Park while they were hiking with their daughters, ages 7 and 9 years old.
      
• McGann had been hired to teach at a local Arkansas school for the upcoming academic year but had not yet started working with students. After he resigned from Lewisville ISD, McGann got a job teaching in Oklahoma, before he left for the position in Arkansas.

This Sunday on REAL TEXANS

NOTE: All three announced candidates seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general have been invited to schedule an interview.

Friday Reflection

Stealing Property

No religious text is more strongly in support of property rights than the Bible. The right of an individual to own property, fully and completely, is front and center throughout scripture. 

Indeed, property rights are found twice in the Ten Commandments. Everyone should be easily familiar with “You shall not steal.” 

To understand the full significance of the Ten Commandments, it is helpful to think of their obverse. 

For example, “You shall not murder.” Easy, right? Just don’t murder anyone. Yet, the Law of God is about something more than the letter of the law; it is the attitude of our hearts. We understand this also goes to the way we protect, honor, and celebrate life. It is not enough that I don’t kill someone; I must also be actively engaged in helping those in need.

When scripture tells us that God has commanded us not to steal, that implies something more profound about the nature of property and human rights. By being told not to steal, we are also told that people have a right to be secure in the ownership of their property … and that we are to respect that ownership.

This goes deeper in the last of the commandments: “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Since we don’t use “covet” often, I want to clarify its meaning. To covet something is to want it so badly that one will do anything—unethical or even illegal—to get it. The Tenth Commandment is not a warning against aspiring to have nice things. When paired with the injunction against outright theft, it is a moral restriction against scheming to take away that which someone else has.

It is worth noting that the phrase “your neighbor’s” is repeated three times. Because repetition in scripture is a device used to draw attention to an idea, finding that phrase three times in a single sentence should cause us to take notice. This is not a gentle reminder, but a stark warning to those who would undermine the concept of private property ownership. They are acting outside the designs of the Creator of the Universe. 

All of which brings me to where we find ourselves in Texas.

Functionally, we do not own our homes or land. They all belong to the state. You disagree? Try not paying your annual rent to the school district, city, county, hospital district, and community college, and see how long you get to remain on their land and in their home. I wrote “rent” there; sorry, I meant “property taxes.”

Same difference.

Our property tax system is based on coveting what our neighbor possesses and wanting it so badly, we scheme to punish him for having it. We dress it up, of course. It is about the children. Making sure they have nice things. Hogwash.

Consider the biennial debate in the Texas Legislature over property tax relief. By its very nature, the discussion is not about allowing you to own your property free and clear. Instead, they haggle over ways to reduce the rate at which the government is increasing the tribute you must pay for the privilege of living on the land you bought.

Our senior citizens are treated even more poorly. They did everything "right" by saving money and buying a home. Yet in their golden years, they find themselves forced off their property because they cannot afford the taxes. Worse, because of escalating property valuations and tax burdens, they often cannot afford to purchase even a downsized home.

While some politicians have campaigned for office on the notion of finding a path toward eliminating Texas’ immoral property tax system, once elected they have a funny way of not trodding anywhere in that direction. 

Property rights must be about something more than trimming trees when you like or repainting the front door. We do not truly have a right to property until we own it without paying rent to the government.

We must recognize the centrality of property ownership in securing our inalienable rights to life and liberty. 

Quote-Unquote

"If history could teach us anything, it would be that private property is inextricably linked with civilization."

– Ludwig von Mises