Lawmakers agree on biggest property tax cut in Texas history

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - When the regular legislative session ended in May, legislators had still not reached a consensus on the Property Tax Relief Bill, one of the governors top priorities.

Governor Abbott called for a special session immediately, however the session failed and ended in further disagreement amongst lawmakers.

“It was literally arguing about how to save taxpayers 18 billion dollars,” Senator Charles Perry said.

After a second special session, a deal was made. The first tax cut includes every homeowner who homesteads their home, affecting about 5.7 million Texans.

“So, if you own a home, you’ll have $100,000 exempted out of your school tax value, so that’s significant,” Perry said.

School districts are the largest piece of your tax bill. Now, homeowners are looking at a 40 to 41% credit on their bills; they should see that cut as soon as this year.

“So, you should see a bill in October, but the bill you’ll actually end up paying will have to be revised as soon as the voters vote,” he said

Lawmakers agreed to a three-year pilot project, where non-homestead properties valued under 5 million dollars, including residential and commercial properties, will receive a 20% circuit breaker on appraised values.

“We put a 20% cap on to look back in three years and go, ‘what was the impact of that? What did that really look like to the tax payer at the end of the day, and can the state afford that?’”

The deal proposes doubling the exempted amount of franchise tax payers, taking 67,000 people out of the franchise tax system.

“So, you talk about a economic driver for businesses that are already coming to Texas because of regulations and taxes, so this is just one more carrot.”

The bill will have to pass through both chambers, but Perry stated he expects it to pass this week and be on the governors desk by Friday. The governor said he is looking forward to signing and putting in voters hands this November.

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