People may argue whether it was kosher for former state Rep. Fred Hill to go through the "revolving door" and start lobbying on behalf of city and county governments -- but it's hard to doubt that he's knowledgeable about cities and counties.

After all, he was in the legislature for 20 years, chaired the House Local Government Ways and Means Committee, and had previously been a school board member in Richardson.

So when I talked to him recently for our story on his becoming a lobbyist, I wanted to pick his brain about what he thought the big issues would be for cities and counties in this session of the legislature.

First of all: Eminent domain in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision.

That case, which has been controversial nationwide, said it was OK for local government to use eminent domain to take property that they intended to use for economic development by private business -- "which, in my opinion, is totally wrong," Hill said. "That shouldn't be the case. Eminent domain is really for the purpose of public use, for instance, like roads, electric lines, pipelines, things of that nature."

The problem for cities and counties, he said, is that lawmakers are reacting by Kelo by introducing bills that would sharply limit local governments' abilities to use eminent domain -- but the effects would be much broader than just curtailling its use for economic development, Hill said.

"Right now, they're so vague that they would restrict, probably, the use ... of things like electrical lines, power lines, pipelines, roads, highway construction" and other basic infrastructure needs.

Hill said he understands what those legislators are trying to do, and he hopes to be able to work with them to get bills passed "to use eminent domain where it should be used."

Another issue: Maintaining local governments' abilities to use tax breaks to lure industry and jobs.

Hill recalled seeing a photograph in a newspaper of Gov. Rick Perry at the late-January groundbreaking of a new Caterpillar engine plant in Seguin, which will employ 1,400 people.

The former legislator didn't begrudge the governor being in the picture, but he said it shouldn't be forgotten that the local governments in the Seguin area worked hard to land that plant. What the governor's office did was nice, Hill said, but it was merely "the icing on the cake."

Another example: The Cooper Tire plant in Texarkana, which Perry mentioned in his State of the State speech, which will stay open -- saving 1,400 jobs -- and which will expand and employ another 250 people. The governor contributed to the effort to land that plant through the Texas Enterprise Fund, "but, basically, it was local government that made that happen," Hill said.

The state needs to protect local governments' rights to offer tax abatements, "so that local governments can continue to make an effort to create jobs and to bring development to our state."

Texas could be on the verge of a great opportunity to land new businesses on the run from other states, he said.

The situation with the economy, he said, "where we have states like California that are in dire consequences, and they're at a $42 billion deficit right now. The only way they're ever gonna make that up is by raising their taxes. And chances are, they're not gonna raise their taxes on the individuals -- they're probably gonna raise their taxes on businesses.

"Businesses will flee from California, and what we need to do in Texas is to create an environment here that will make it attractive for businesses to come to Texas. So, that's why it's important that we have the right tools in place to attract new businesses into our state ... California, Colorado, Florida -- they've all got restrictions on their local governments that are creating some problems for them. And Texas doesn't have that."

If you read our story from the other day, you saw that Hill is opposed to the state telling local governments what they can and can't do -- in fact, as a lobbyist, Hill's business is formally titled Solutions for Local Control LLC. But there is one limitation on local governments that he said he does support, and it has to do with property taxes.

There are conditions, Hill said, in which a local appraisal district can appraise property not by what it's being used for but by what its best use is, which can be more subjective. That creates situations where, he said, if your home is next door to a shopping center, and say the shopping center wants to expand, the appraisal district could appraise your house not by its use -- as your home -- but by its best use, which could be as a new shopping center expansion. That sticks you with a higher tax bill, and Hill named preventing that as another top issue for the session.

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