In a unanimous vote, members of the Texas State Senate have given their unanimous approval to a measure that promises to significantly reduce homeowners’ property taxes.
Senate Bill 4, which is being regarded as the most important tax legislation to be considered by lawmakers during the 2025 session, will raise the homestead exemption on school district taxes from the current $100,000 to $140,000 of assessed value.
The measure, which has won national attention, partly comes in response to a call by Texas Republican Governor George Abbott, who earlier this month remarked, “No taxing entity should be able to raise your property taxes without a two-thirds approval by voters.”
Added Abbott: “No approval, no new taxes.”
The bill has been described by the Austin American Statesman as a “$22.7 billion tax relief package,” and is now on its way to the Texas House of Representatives. If approved there, voters in Texas in a statewide ballot will be able to decide whether to make the change permanent.
According to a study released last summer by the Washington-based Tax Foundation, Texas has long had one of the highest property tax rates in the country and is the number one highest property tax state in the southwest.
In lieu of raising the homestead exemption in school districts, lawmakers have said that they want to use revenue from the state’s sales taxes to fund future public-school spending.
Democrat Senator Nathan Johnson said that this component helped secure his support of the homestead exemption bill, noting “I do not ever want to see a school district have to not hire a teacher or fire a teacher because we’re giving people property relief this session.”
Republican Senator Paul Bettencourt, author of the legislation, said apartment renters in the state will likely also benefit from his bill, noting, according to the San Antonio Report, that “landlords will pass along benefits from tax cuts to renters to stay competitive.”
February 17, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
