New data released by State Senator Paul Bettencourt earlier this week shows that nearly 61% of Texas seniors who own a home no longer pay any school district taxes. Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Local Government Committee, unveiled the data at a hearing of his committee earlier this week.
Over the last several legislative sessions, state lawmakers have passed legislation to reduce school district property tax rates and increase school district homestead exemption. With the passage of Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 23 last year, the homestead exemption is now $140,000, with a $200,000 exemption for disabled homeowners and homeowners over 65.
“This first of its kind study found an amazing 1.449 million Over 65 and disabled homeowners pay ZERO ISD property taxes. ALSO 25% of general homesteads pay ZERO. That’s 949k homeowners that pay ZERO ISD property taxes. That means nearly 2.5 million Texas homeowners are paying ZERO on their school property tax bills! That’s 39.23% of 6.14 million Texas homesteads. HUGE NEWS! The average HE home [property tax] bill dropped from $1,037 to $896, a 13.5% cut, now under $1,000 statewide. The average senior homeowner still paying ISD tax bills saw their bill drop from $565 to $380, a 33% cut. This is the tax cut homeowners voted for!” said Bettencourt.
Additional property tax relief continues to be a top priority for Texas Republican leaders, although the approaches on how to achieve that tax relief differ.
Governor Greg Abbott has promoted a property tax plan in recent months that emphasizes appraisal caps and limits on local government spending, with the goal of eliminating school district property taxes for homeowners.
Under his five-point “Texas Taxpayer Empowerment Plan”, Abbott seeks to limit local government spending increases to the lesser of population plus inflation or 3.5%, require two-thirds voter approval for property tax increases, provide a mechanism where 15% of the registered voters in a jurisdiction can petition for a property tax rollback election, reduce the appraisal cap from 10% to 3%, and enact a state constitutional amendment to eliminate school district property taxes on homeowners.
Abbott’s proposal has received widespread support among Republican members of the Texas House.
In the Texas Senate, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has offered his own property tax reduction proposal – dubbed “Operation Double Nickel” – which would increase the homestead exemption by $40,000 and lower the age at which the senior homestead exemption can be claimed from 65 to 55.
However, support for continued property tax relief is not universal. Testifying before the Senate Local Government Committee earlier this week, Shannon Holbrook of the left-wing policy advocacy organization Every Texas urged lawmakers to oppose further property tax relief measures.
“I think we would urge y’all to sort of chill out just a little bit, and maybe not keep cutting taxes and increasing the homestead exemption,” said Holbrook.
