#local-government-funding

#local-government-funding

One national park is staying open through the government shutdown - Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park, located in the Appalachian Mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee, will be fully staffed through the period, NPR reported. The outlet reported that seven local governments in the area were paying the park's 275 full time employees to keep the park operating during the shutdown. Local governments have raised nearly $2 million to keep the park running, per NPR.

In an expensive city like Austin, it's a tough time to raise property taxes - especially on top of rising gas bills and a county tax hike to fund disaster relief for the July floods. Yet that is what the City is asking the voters to approve this November in order to help make up for the state's inaction in the face of the federal government's millions in cuts to grants that fund city services.

"Interestingly, 23.4% of properties saw their tax bill go up from 2023 to 2024 without their assessment value increasing, suggesting a tax rate hike independent of home valuation."