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- BG Reads 2.10.2025
BG Reads 2.10.2025
🟪 BG Reads - February 10, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
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February 10, 2025
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 City considers new STR rules requiring oversight from platforms (Austin Monitor)
🟪 Gov. Greg Abbott wants to set a high bar for local taxes increases (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Dallas Fed economist: Texas is ‘in the line of fire’ for proposed tariffs on Mexico (Dallas Morning News)
🟪 Trump says 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming Monday (The Hill)
Read On!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ City considers new STR rules requiring oversight from platforms (Austin Monitor)
The city’s proposed overhaul of regulations for short-term rental properties could tighten licensing requirements, impose new restrictions on ownership, and shift enforcement responsibilities onto rental platforms.
Members of City Council and the Planning Commission got a detailed look at the possible changes last week during a joint meeting that served as the first public hearing needed to move forward with any amendments to city ordinances.
If adopted, the new regulations would be some of the most significant changes to the city’s STR economy, where unlicensed sites far outnumber those complying with existing registration requirements. By increasing the number of licensed operators, the city would be able to address safety and some quality-of-life issues and collect more Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, but city staff cautioned there will still be challenges to comprehensively enforcing city code on the industry.
The proposal introduces new eligibility requirements that would classify short-term rentals as an accessory use for all residential properties, provided they obtain a valid license. For parcels with three or fewer dwellings, only individuals – defined as human beings rather than corporations – would be permitted to own and operate short-term rentals. In multifamily properties such as apartment complexes at least one unit but no more than 25 percent of the units per property could be used for short-term rentals… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ High-speed rail, renter protections: 5 legislative updates from Austin-area lawmakers (Community Impact)
The 89th Texas Legislature convened for its five-month biennial session Jan. 14 in Austin. The session opened with the Texas House's election of a new speaker, Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, as review of the hundreds of bills filed in late 2024 and early 2025 has begun.
The Austin area’s pool of lawmakers have brought legislation on a variety of topics aimed at local and statewide issues, and will continue to file and review those proposals through March 14… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ Gov. Greg Abbott wants to set a high bar for local taxes increases (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott, in his bid to curb Texas’ high property taxes, wants Texas voters to have the final say on any property tax hike. Local governments that collect property taxes — including cities, counties and school districts — should have to win approval from a two-thirds majority of voters if they want to raise their tax rates, Abbott said.
“No approval, no new taxes,” he said earlier this month during his State of the State address. Putting every proposed tax rate increase before the voters would have widespread implications for localities’ ability to keep up with demand for services as the state booms, local officials, school advocates and tax policy experts said.
As Texas' population grows, so does the need for roads, schools and public safety, they said. Requiring any tax increase to clear a two-thirds majority vote is a nearly impossible task — and would make it easy to kill any measure aimed at providing basic services… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Dallas Fed economist: Texas is ‘in the line of fire’ for proposed tariffs on Mexico (Dallas Morning News)
The Trump Administration’s proposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been delayed, but Texas will be “in the line of fire” if they are eventually put in place, a government economist warns. Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, described the coming year as a “balancing act” between headwinds and tailwinds. She spoke on Friday at the institution’s economic outlook event.
On one hand, Orrenius cited the palpable optimism within the business community for potential deregulation and lower taxes that would bolster growth. But on the other, tariffs, lower immigration and government spending cuts could hinder growth, she told reporters. The Trump Administration has already begun a crackdown on illegal immigration. And though its future is unclear, a federal spending freeze has thrown Biden-era grants into chaos. Tariffs, though, could hit Texas the hardest.
“We’re really in the line of fire here on tariffs, if they come, to place those tariffs on Mexico,” Orrenius said. Long before Mexico usurped China as the No. 1 importer to the U.S., it was Texas’ biggest trading partner, and that relationship continues to this day. Orrenius said her team had done a “back of the envelope” calculation into what a 25% tariff on Mexico could do to the Texas economy, and found a 15-30% decrease in GDP growth.
At a baseline, many economists view tariffs as inflationary, lowering consumer purchasing power, pushing up prices and potentially curbing consumption. That, in turn, becomes a drag on economic growth. However, Orrenius pointed out that because of production sharing between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, tariffs can also amount to a tax on domestically manufactured products, both nationally and statewide.
For example, a General Motors plant in Mexico manufactures transmissions that can be used in the SUVs produced at GM’s assembly plant in Arlington. Mexican-built GM trucks, meanwhile, can use engines made in the U.S. An interconnected supply chain exists across companies and industries; if products are taxed each time they cross the border, that can have a ripple effect on manufacturing and costs.
“We can do a base-case impact on growth of tariffs, but can we figure out what the impact is on inflation and growth when you have intra-industry trade? That’s like a whole [other] level, so that’s why we’re worried about tariffs,” Orrenius said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
✅ Trump says 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming Monday (The Hill)
President Trump said he will announce 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum on Monday, adding that he would also kick off reciprocal tariffs in the days after. Trump said that the steel and aluminum tariffs would impact “everybody” when asked what countries would be effected.
“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff — aluminum too,” Trump told reporters. “Twenty-five percent … for both.” He added that details of the reciprocal tariffs will be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday in a news conference.
“Very simply, if they charge us, we charge them,” he said, adding that the tariffs would go into effect “almost immediately” and impact “every country.” Trump has signaled that he would impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as tariffs on semiconductor chips, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas.
On Friday, he warned that reciprocal tariffs would also be announced early next week, adding that he thinks reciprocal as opposed to a flat-fee tariff is the fair approach.
“In terms of tariffs, I mean we’re going to have tariffs, mostly reciprocal tariffs,” he said. “But probably a reciprocal tariff where a country pays so much or charges us so much and we do the same, so very reciprocal. Because I think that’s the only fair way to do it, that way nobody’s hurt — they charge us we charge them … as opposed to a flat-fee tariff,” he added. Trump imposed 10 percent tariffs on China on Feb. 1, following through on a long-standing pledge to target Chinese goods. He delayed the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month after speaking with both nations’ leaders last week… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ The mood of the American consumer is souring (Wall Street Journal)
The Trump bump in consumer confidence is already over. Tariff threats, stock market swings and rapidly reversing executive orders are causing Americans across the political spectrum to feel considerably more pessimistic about the economy than they did before President Trump took office. Consumer sentiment fell about 5% in the University of Michigan’s preliminary February survey of consumers to its lowest reading since July 2024. Expectations of inflation in the year ahead jumped from 3.3% in January to 4.3%, the second month in a row of large increases and highest reading since November 2023.
“It’s very rare to see a full percentage point jump in inflation expectations,” said Joanne Hsu, who oversees the survey. Republicans have come off a postelection surge in confidence, she said, and Democrats and Independents also seem to believe that economic conditions have deteriorated since last month. Morning Consult’s recent index of consumer confidence, too, fell between Jan. 25 and Feb. 3, driven primarily by concern over the country’s economic future.
“I don’t like the turbulence. I don’t like the chaos in the market,” said Paul Bisson, a 58-year-old, who writes proposals for a flight safety company and co-owns a dog daycare in San Antonio. Bisson voted for Trump, but feels “his policies have led to that chaos.” Bisson is hoping to retire in the not-too-distant future, and is worried that won’t be possible if Trump follows through with his tariff threats rather than just using them as a negotiating tactic.
“That will make the economy worse, and that’s not what we signed up for,” Bisson said. “We’ve already cut back. There’s no more cutting back to do.” Immediately after Trump’s November victory, consumer confidence surged, a move largely driven by new optimism among Republicans. The sentiment stayed elevated throughout the run-up to the inauguration. Trump won the election largely by campaigning on a pledge to improve the economy and bring down inflation. Economists warned that his tariff plans could have the opposite effect. The president himself has cautioned that tariffs could cause some pain but would ultimately lead to more jobs and a stronger economy. Trump has paused his plans to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. But consumers are clearly worried about their potential effects… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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