Displaying episodes 1 - 30 of 57 in total
The formerly home-ruled 15-minute city
A bill in the Texas Legislature could have a chilling effect on the home-rule status of Texas cities; SB2's property tax reforms could have significant implications fo...
The Urban Vitality of Costco
Patrick and Chad discuss a proposed Costco/apartment complex in South LA, how multi-family can be better integrated into suburban areas, and give an update on the 2023...
The neighborly, the cloudy, the nice, and the naughty
Pat and Chad talk about the missing second-ring relationship, whether computers are taking over too much, and which city functions deserve to get a lump of coal in the...
The Bicycle
Pat and Chad are joined by Milford John-Williams for a wide ranging discussion about bicycle infrastructure (or in some cases, the lack thereof) and the many, many ele...
The "Why" (with bonus content!)
Chad and Patrick talk about California's recent spree of housing legislation and how (or if) it fits into the topic of local control; a recent Strong Towns podcast abo...
The staff meeting
Join us for a virtual TeamZac staff meeting as Chad and Patrick debate options for allocating sales tax revenue in our recently released neighborhood profitability cal...
The profitable city
Pat and Chad talk about what it means for cities to be profitable, and why it matters.
I'm your density... I mean, your destiny
It's Patrick's episode today. He has 100% control over the content and deserves 100% of the blame for any concerns you may have.
Meddlers of the world, unite (then cut it out, please)
Pat and Chad return from summer holiday with an action packed discussion of meddling: from sales tax rule changes to property tax rule changes to employee tracking.
Isn't budgeting so much fun these days?
Kyle Lester, finance director for Colleyville, Texas, joins us again. Two years ago, he was on the pod to talk about building a budget under the looming cloud of Covid...
Open Mic Morning
It's another free-wheeling roundtable discussion, covering the economy, pro-family policymaking, housing, building new cities, internal audits, and much more.
Local impacts of Ukraine and the 2020 Census changes
Pat and Chad talk about local impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the anonymity changes to the 2020 Census
Software subscriptions and a stock market for cities
We welcome Doug Martella of GoVirtual CFO to chat about GASB 96, a new statement covering software subscription accounting, and to pontificate on the half-baked idea o...
A stemwinder on sales tax, staffing, supply chains, speed bumps, and scooters
Chad and Pat are back with a wide ranging discussion, including upcoming sales tax numbers, inflation's impact on pay, Austin's minimum PD staffing proposition, zoning...
What to expect when expecting to be a city manager
We turn away from current events and offer some advice for first time city manager job seekers. From understanding your own comfort level and skill set, to doing your ...
Don't buy AirPods at the airport
In this episode, we assess the state of post-Covid sales tax recovery in Texas, talk about proposals to replace property taxes with a valuea added tax, and wrap up wit...
The sky probably isn't falling, and why a national infrastructure bank isn't helpful
After a brief hiatus, we're back talking about a proposal for a National Infrastructure Bank, and we revisit the recommendations GFOA made to help cities weather the f...
Sales Taxes and Covid Vaxxes
We debate the merits of Covid vaccine incentives; the Comptroller releases top-line sales tax numbers for March sales; an update on HB 4072; and some half-baked ideas ...
HB 4072 (and all-time great baseball movies)
We talk about HB 4072, a bill being considered in the Texas Legislature that would fundamentally alter the way sales taxes are allocated to local governments. Along th...
Dark Stores and Coachless Teams
On this supersized episode, more on the Dark Store appraisal theory, why we don't like property taxes, and is your organizational culture preventing you from hiring th...
Fighting the wrong fight on property tax reform
Texas cities have been fighting the state legislature over property tax revenue caps for years, but what if they've just been a symptom of the underlying problem? In t...
The one Patrick expects a lot of feedback on
In this grab bag episode: parking violation snitching, poo in the river, endangered affordable housing, Texas' convoluted property tax system, the City of Denton sues ...
Happy Texas Independence (from masks) Day!
On Tuesday, March 2, Texas Governor Abbott has declared an end to state mask mandates and a near-complete reopening of Texas business. We discuss whether this makes se...
Back in the saddle
After a brief podcasting break, Patrick and Chad return for a semi-random discussion about whatever was on our mind. Topics include property tax analytics, the upcomin...
Sales Tax (Post) Gameday - February 2021
After a brief hiatus, we're back with a somewhat meandering sales tax gameday. Join us as we dig into February sales tax allocations across the state of Texas and a wh...
Greg Abbott: City Manager
Texas Governor Greg Abbott wants to take over policing of downtown Austin. We talk about Texas' continuing shift away from limited government/local control and what it...
Czech yourself before you wreck yourself
In a special, barely-related-to-city-government episode, Cody Janicek joins us from Prague to talk Covid, living in Europe as an American, growing up with Chad, and co...
The "Chad's Mannerisms" episode
Google announces a "No-Meetings Week", and CityLab discusses the downsides of open floor plans.
Sales Tax Gameday - November 2020
Often imitated, never duplicated. It's the one and only Sales Tax Gameday! We dive into the highs and lows of a bounce back month, announce the first ever Sales Tax Ga...
Covid resurgence, broken ice cream, street grids, and murder hornets
In what might be our nerdiest episode yet, we talk about the recent surges of Covid-19 and street grids, a software engineer who hacked McDonald's to find out which ic...