Is the Company Behind the Texas Bullet Train Behind on Paying Property Taxes?

Houston Press ^ | 4-4-22 | DIANNA WRAY

[dynachrome]

The hits just keep on coming for Texas Central. Now a number of Texas counties contend that the company behind the planned 236-mile, Houston-to-Dallas highspeed rail line is behind on property taxes.

The allegation comes as both sides of the debate over whether or not to run a bullet train line through a swathe of rural Texas to connect the two metroplexes await the Texas Supreme Court’s decision on Miles vs. Texas Central. Jim Miles, the landowner behind the case, has taken his insistence that the company is not a railway and should not be allowed to use eminent domain rights to force Texas landowners to sell their property all the way to the high court, which heard the case back in January.

The fact that the court agreed to hear the case at all was a defeat for the company. The Texas Supreme Court had initially declined to weigh in on Miles vs. Texas Central last June before reversing that decision in October after Miles petitioned for a reconsideration.

[dynachrome]

High speed theft via eminent domain.

[algore]

I heard that “Sound Transit” up in seattle makes them look like the JV team

[HighSierra5]

Is the Texas bullet train anymore built along as the California one?

[Rurudyne]

Texas bullet train = making the Trinity navigable up to Dallas

Long history of such pipe dreams.

A Tribute to the Trinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGNkcwmYUu4

[SecondAmendment]

I can rigorously prove this :

Land and High Speed developers = Democrats,
Democrats = Tax deadbeats

Therefore by transitive equivalence, they are behind on property taxes.

[reed13k]

Have never understood why earthquake and typhoon prone Japan has been able to implement bullet trains and continued improvements throughout the system and the US hasn’t managed to at least implement one along the eastern seaboard or NY to Chicago...hell they just need to plow right down the middle of I-80 for NY to Chicago (or any major interstate for that matter) no further eminent domain issues to consider.

[Texan5]

I don’t live in NY or Chicago, so I’ve no idea if a bullet train would be beneficial there-but I do live in Texas-and we have a rather nice highway system that functions very well for traffic outside of the city limits of the major cities-unless you are trying to leave Austin-where you will be mired in traffic for no apparent reason for at least 10 miles after leaving the city limits...

We need a bullet train even less than Cali does-just a waste of money in either state-both have plenty of well-designed highways and open space to travel, unlike some of the more crowded northern states...

[BfloGuy]

Have never understood why earthquake and typhoon prone Japan has been able to implement bullet trains and continued improvements throughout the system and the US hasn’t managed to at least implement one along the eastern seaboard or NY to Chicago.

Because the Japanese have been willing to spend trillions in government funds to build them. No more. No less.

[WASCWatch]

Japan has extremely high population densities; and their cities are very much verticle. Texas; not so much.

It’s not that hard to figure out

[PAR35]

we have a rather nice highway system that functions very well for traffic outside of the city limits

I was ready to write, "Ever been to Austin" before I got to the end of your sentence.

Of course, Rick and Ric made sure all of I-35 south of Dallas got in really bad shape when they were trying to sell out to the Spaniards. Ric ended up dead at a young age when the deal fell through, but Rick managed to survive.