After a year-long stalemate in the House and Senate, the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas has reached an agreement on property tax reduction. Governor Abbott has made it clear that legislators will not be able to go home until a solution has been reached (even vetoing bills- see here), and one has finally been agreed upon.
The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association announced that in the morning hours of July 10th, Speaker of the House Dade Phelan and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released joint statement that released their new plan to reduce property taxes. The legislation will cut a historic $18 billion in taxes in hopes of providing significant relief from the burden of taxes for Texans. The highlights of the legislation, as written in the joint statement include:
- “Over $12 billion will be spent on reducing the school property tax rate for all homeowners and business properties.”
- “Every homeowner who homesteads their home (approximately 5.7 million homeowners) will get a $100,000 homestead exemption.”
- “Non-homesteaded properties, valued at $5 million and under, including residential and commercial properties, will receive a 20% circuit breaker on appraised values as a 3-year pilot project.”
- “Legislation will also include savings on the franchise tax for small businesses and create newly elected positions on local appraisal boards”
The legislation will be filed on July 10. Knowing that this has been a very public and popular piece of legislation we anticipate that it will be passed by the end of the week. This historic tax cut will foster further economic growth for Texas businesses. Phelan and Patrick are hopeful that this bill will have a real impact on all Texans.
Stay tuned for continued updates.
Written by Catherine Cunningham