Dear TTP Citizen Advocates, They finally did it! The House and Senate actually made nice with each other, talked to each other, kissed and made up and came to an agreement on property tax relief. I was in the Senate gallery on Wednesday when Paul Bettencourt laid out SB2 - the new and improved property tax relief legislation. The Senate passed it on Wednesday, the House passed it on Thursday along with SB3, which is the franchise tax exemption portion, and then both chambers adjourned Sine Die. There's also a Constitutional Amendment bill for the increase in the homestead exemption. Governor Abbot has indicated that he will sign the bills. The specifics of the deal are:
- More than $7 billion to compress school district Maintenance & Operations rates (about 10.7 cents per $100)
- An increase of the standard homestead exemption to $100,000
- A three-year trial run for a 20 percent appraisal cap on commercial and non-homestead residential properties valued at or below $5 million
- A $1.47 million increase to the state’s franchise tax exception
- The creation of three elected positions on Appraisal Review Boards in counties above 75,000 population
Be careful about the claims that the legislation will yield a $1,200 “savings” for average homeowners. That doesn’t mean your tax bill will go down by an average of $1,200. It just means that your tax bill will be about $1,200 less that it would have been without this legislation. It will be interesting to see what actually happens to our tax bills. The first year we should see definite reductions, but I wonder how long it will take for appraisals to eat up those gains. In an article for Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Vance Ginn with Texas Public Policy Foundation writes, “While it is good that there is so much going to tax relief, this package will make the tax system more complicated, make it more difficult to eliminate school M&O property taxes, contribute to higher school M&O property tax rates, and shift the burden around as homesteads and small businesses are chosen as the winners while renters and other employers are losers. The government should not be in the business of socially engineering people’s lives through the tax code by picking winners and losers, and this is exactly what this package does.” Most legislators are now embarking on a tour of their districts updating citizens on their accomplishments in the 88th Legislature. Expect them to pat themselves on the back and brag about how they brought you the “biggest tax relief in Texas history.” But don’t believe it – you know better. While any reduction in tax rates is a good thing, it only gives us back about half of what was overpaid, it doesn't put us on a path for elimination, and it's definitely not the biggest. We're still renting our homes from the government. It’s not what we wanted, it’s not what we asked for, but it’s what we got. I’m excited to see some of you next weekend for the Weekend Workshop series in Granbury. If interested and you’ve not yet registered – there’s still time. Click here to register and come join the fun. Since I’ll be in workshops next weekend, I probably will not do a Fran’s Friday Message. Unless the legislature does something earth shattering between now and then. That’s not likely because I think they’ve all gone on vacation! Maybe I will too. For Texas always, Fran Rhodes, President PS: Who's ready to run for one of those 3 new elected positions on the Appraisal Review Board? It could be YOU! |
.png)
