Good point. It really is strange though, that other than a few cursory decisions, there really hasn't been a definitive statewide judicial answer to the legal question of taxation without representation. If a plurality of my ISD property taxes are allocated to other ISD Boards to spend as they see fit, how does that jive with my rights as a taxpayer in need of representative informedness? I can go to ACC about my line item tax bill, to City of Austin, to EMS, to Central Health. But some random East Texas ISD gets 5% of my money, I can't do shit---can't even get on the public speaking agenda at a board meeting because of my address. Another thread, I suppose.
In lighter news, after 5 years...the Zilker Eagle is up and running. Took the girls Wednesday morning before work. They'll find a way to fuck it up, but it was really fun. The engine really looks like an engine. Pulls 6 cars at 4 rows each. So between adults and kids, about 72 people. The tunnels are fun, it goes under two playscape bridges, and when it heads back from the downtown lookout point, you go downhill and the thing actually moves at a pretty damn good clip. The last tunnel, the under-car neon lights really make for a cool effect (go on an overcast day). You can see all the private donors/sponsors on each car, so it's nice that the city can't whine about not having enough cash to keep it going. But it was about a 15-minute ride and the girls loved every minute of it (we went at 10:15a to avoid midday heat). Took way too long to get this thing up and running, but your kids will love it. It's not the little kiddie choo-choo anymore, it's like a legit mini locomotive. Really fun, we'll probably go again soon before it gets uber hot. Beware the slopes to get from parking lots down to the depot though.