Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s every day publication that retains readers on top of things on essentially the most important Texas information.
DALLAS — The Texas Home pushed ahead a proposal Monday geared toward containing property tax payments by placing tighter restrictions on cities and counties.
The laws would additional restrict how far more in property tax income cities and counties can gather every year with out voter approval. Below state legislation, that restrict sits at 3.5%. The invoice would take that restrict right down to 1%.
“I imagine that we have to enterprise and do the whole lot we will on the state degree to supply decrease taxes to our constituents,” mentioned state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-College Park, who carried Senate Bill 10 within the Home.
The invoice, which handed the Senate earlier this month, cleared the Texas Home by a 78-52 vote.The Senate will both settle for adjustments Home lawmakers made to the invoice or discover a compromise.
Such a restrict comes at a tough time for localities. Cities and counties have already had their budgets crimped by the state’s present restrict on property tax income enacted in 2019. The price of paying for important companies like police and fireplace safety and street building have solely grown since then because the state’s inhabitants boomed. Localities have additionally introduced in much less income from gross sales taxes because of a slowing economic system. Federal pandemic aid {dollars} have all however dried up, and there’s uncertainty over future federal funding.
Native officers and Democratic lawmakers raised issues that cities’ and counties’ public security spending and skill to recruit cops, firefighters and paramedics in addition to keep gear wanted to reply to public security calls would take successful below the proposed restrict. Police and fireplace spending are inclined to make up the vast majority of a metropolis or county’s finances. Metropolis and county officers requested lawmakers final week to think about some type of carveout for public security spending.
“I do not see how there’s not a public security hit that our native governments are going to take after which they are going to must go to the voters yearly merely to approve sustaining present fireplace and police staffing ranges,” mentioned state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie.
Proponents of the invoice had argued that cities and counties can ask voters to approve a better property tax price in the event that they run right into a finances crunch.
“That is about offering accountability,” Meyer mentioned. “It is ensuring cities and counties plan accordingly, and in the event that they try this, they need to be capable of cowl all of their core companies which can be crucial.”
However the Home in the end authorised a change to the invoice that exempts public security prices from being topic to the brand new restrict.
The invoice initially would have solely utilized to cities and counties with no less than 75,000 residents. Home lawmakers struck that language, so now the invoice would apply to each metropolis and county.
Republican lawmakers have proven frustration that whereas they’ve spent billions of {dollars} to rein at school property taxes, metropolis and county property taxes have typically continued to climb — albeit extra slowly than they in any other case might need if not for state limits. Texas will spend $51 billion over the following two years to provide larger faculty tax breaks to householders and enterprise house owners. Gov. Greg Abbott known as on lawmakers to search out methods to chop property taxes by reining in spending by native governments.
To the chamber’s extra conservative GOP lawmakers who’ve sought extra aggressive methods to carry down property taxes, the laws is inadequate. Earlier than legislators amended the invoice to incorporate a tighter cap, state Rep. Mitch Little, a Lewisville Republican, mentioned that metropolis and county officers in his district advised him the everyday home-owner in these locations would save lower than $20 a 12 months below the invoice — figures that Meyer disputed.
“My concern is that everybody in my district who has calculated this implies that this invoice roughly equates to a Starbucks run in tax aid,” Little mentioned.
Extra all-star audio system confirmed for The Texas Tribune Pageant, Nov. 13–15! This 12 months’s lineup simply received much more thrilling with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Pretty, R-Amarillo; former United States Legal professional Normal Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Legal professional Normal; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!
TribFest 2025 is offered by JPMorganChase.
