Property Tax Bill Passes Both Houses, but Differences Remain
The Texas House Thursday approved, with changes, Senate Bill 3, the proposal to cut property taxes, and sent it back to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate can agree to the House’s changes, or it can decide to take it to a conference committee between the chambers.
The House version of Senate Bill 3 would send $12 billion to school districts to bring down tax rates, increase the state’s homestead exemption on public school taxes from $40,000 to $100,000 (with an additional $10,000 for seniors and disabled homeowners), and lower the state’s appraisal cap from 10% to 5%. The exemption under the Senate’s plan was $70,000, with additional allowances for seniors and disabled homeowners. The merged plans would amount to $16.3 billion in total property tax relief.
The House also approved a related constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 3, to let Texans vote in November on whether to compress the school district tax rate by 15 cents. A 10-cent compression has already been approved in the budget.