Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the cities, most of them small, of violating a state law aimed at preventing cities from unduly raising property taxes.
The Republican speaker’s interim charges also covered water resources, foreign threats and government accountability.
Patrick’s initial five-item to-do list also included assessing risks posed by hostile foreign entities to the grid’s supply chain and preventing fraud in Texas’ health and human services.
Conservative and liberal tax policy experts said Abbott’s proposal would lead to higher housing costs and tax benefits flowing disproportionately to wealthy homeowners.
Texas cities and counties already face limits on how much revenue they can generate. Local leaders have warned that further restrictions would mean fewer services like parks and libraries.
The lieutenant governor also doubled down on his stance that property taxes can’t be totally eliminated, putting him at odds with Gov. Greg Abbott.
The governor must first win over lawmakers who have rejected similar proposals. The state may have to backfill more than $17 billion for school funding alone.
Citing a new state law, Attorney General Ken Paxton told four cities to cancel planned tax hikes. But La Marque leaders say their tax increase is critical to keeping the city afloat financially.
Even voters in Austin, one of the state’s most liberal cities, shot down a measure to raise property taxes.
Most of the cities — Odessa, La Marque, Tom Bean and Whitesboro — said they are following the law and Ken Paxton’s office is jumping the gun on enforcing new state rules.
The Kerr County Commissioners’ Court approved its new budget and lowered the property tax rate, capping off a prolonged debate following deadly flooding in July.
Commissioner Don Harris placed two action items on the agenda regarding the replacement of the President and Treasurer of Emergency Services District #4.
Senate Bill 10 seeks to limit the growth of property tax rates after a disaster. One expert argues, however, the bill fails to meaningfully reform the process because it is written too loosely.
Senate Bill 10 would close a lever actively being considered to fund disaster recovery from the Hill Country Floods
Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.
On Monday, the Kerr County Commissioners Court unanimously approved Tax Assessor-Collector Bob Reeves to calculate an adjusted “voter-approval tax rate."
New property tax relief legislation, signed by Governor Abbott last week, aims to provide $10 billion worth of relief to Texans across the state.
The City of San Antonio and “Texas True Tax” are hosting free property tax help workshops until May 14. The deadline to submit an appeal or protest is May 15.
Next step will be action in the state House, where budget writers have different plans for distributing property tax help.
Texans who fall behind on their property taxes face one of the most punitive systems in the nation, where private collection companies can tack up to 20% onto their bill.
House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses.
The marquee proposal would increase the amount of a home’s value exemption from school taxes to $140,000 from $100,000. The legislation must win approval from the House next.
Officials took the extraordinary step of taking on new debt to replace the old courthouse, which has been plagued by rats and other pests, elevator breakdowns and flooding.
Tuesday marked the first day lawmakers could file bills for next year’s legislative session.
Texas Republicans have been trying to reduce the state’s high property taxes for years, but some acknowledge eliminating them would be too expensive.
In the state’s larger counties, voters can now elect people to the agencies that appraise property values.
Texas has spent billions of dollars to drive down property taxes. Many homeowners saw a significant tax cut last year, per a Texas Tribune analysis.
The Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation program cuts property taxes for new manufacturing, research and development facilities. It replaces a shuttered program criticized for its impact on school finance.
The view of downtown from many of the homes in the Dignowity Hill neighborhood is second to none, but they also have a front-row seat to some of the city’s biggest issues: homelessness, gentrification and rising property taxes.
This edition of Know My Neighborhood explores the push and pull of preservation versus progress, the heart of a neighborhood in transition and the struggle for the community to define itself.
The $18 billion property tax-cut package is aimed squarely at lowering school district property taxes, which make up the lion’s share of a Texas landowner’s property tax bill.
Voters approved a massive property tax cut and several other measures, but refused to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges.
Proposition 4 could usher in a bevy of property tax changes. That includes using $12.7 billion from a record state budget surplus to lower school district taxes.
For decades, the Texas comptroller’s office has double-checked property valuations across the state, which help determine how much school districts can levy in property taxes. But when state and county appraisers disagree, districts can end up with big holes in their budgets.
Legislation passed this month would raise the state’s homestead exemption to $100,000, lower schools’ tax rates and put an appraisal cap on residential and commercial properties, among other measures. But voters must approve a constitutional amendment first.
At a time when the state has some of the nation’s highest property taxes, the initiative was a cornerstone of his 2022 reelection campaign.
In this week’s episode, we discuss the winners and losers — politically and financially — after lawmakers approved an $18 billion tax cut bill.
Efforts to repair rifts, particularly among Republican leaders, begin as another contentious special session looms on Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for “school choice.”
House Democrats attempted to insert benefits for renters and more money for public education into the tax-cuts package in a series of floor amendments but were unsuccessful.
The package could land on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk by the end of the week. Voters must pass the plan in a constitutional election in November for it to take effect in the 2023 tax year.
The deal would channel $12 billion to reduce the school property tax rate for homeowners and business properties, increase the homestead exemption, and create a pilot program to reduce taxes on certain residential and commercial properties. The legislation is expected to pass later this week.
Top Republicans promised property tax cuts, but have been locked in standoffs on how to achieve it. Gov. Greg Abbott has called another overtime legislative session in hopes of solidifying a plan.
Gov. Greg Abbott quickly called lawmakers back to the Capitol for round two, hoping to break an impasse that has outlasted the regular session and one overtime period.
The Senate’s latest proposal is an apparent effort to appease Gov. Greg Abbott and the lower chamber. The state’s top Republicans have been at odds for months over how to use the state’s historic budget surplus to cut property taxes.
Gov. Greg Abbott has thrown his weight behind the idea being pushed by an influential conservative think tank. Many school leaders are worried.
The city has to lower its tax rate in order to stay under a state-imposed cap, but city staff are also recommending the city max out the possible homestead exemptions at 20%. That would result in San Antonio homeowners paying less on their city tax bills than they did in 2022, even though their home values are likely higher.
With several hundred bills awaiting action by the governor, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the veto threat an affront to Texans and the legislative process.
The special session churns on with the House adjourned, the Senate still working and the governor welcoming an agreement that has thus far eluded lawmakers.
On this week’s episode, we speak to the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s James Quintero, who has been at the center of the debate over property taxes this week.
The governor stands behind his support of the Texas House tax plan despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s insistence that the Senate has a better deal for homeowners.
Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners.
The House passed a bill without Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s preferred increase to homestead exemptions — then abruptly adjourned for the special session. That basically tells the Senate to take the House bill Gov. Greg Abbott backs or leave it.
After negotiations that became tense and public, the House and Senate fell short of delivering on one of the biggest legislative priorities for Republicans in the regular legislative session.
Lawmakers are trying hard to come up with an agreement on how to replace an embattled 20-year tax abatement program for big companies that expired in December.
House lawmakers added a significant boost to the Senate’s proposed homestead exemption and tacked on a contentious idea to lower the state’s appraisal cap.
On the final day to file, the Bexar County Appraisal District was overwhelmed with taxpayers filing protests to try to prove their latest property values were much too high.
Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners.
House Speaker Dade Phelan has said tightening the appraisal cap is the best way to cut property taxes, but Senate tax-cut proponents, housing experts and business groups predict the move would have dire consequences.
The Senate wants to raise the homestead exemption. The House wants to tighten the appraisal cap. Both chambers’ leaders are skeptical of each other’s proposal.
Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session.
Republicans are wrestling over how much of the state’s nearly $33 billion budget surplus to spend on property taxes. Democrats have their own ideas about what to do with the cash.
The program, known as Chapter 313, provides companies with billions of dollars in property tax breaks. The court said it is up to the Legislature to make the call on what to do as the program is set to expire and the state is swamped with applications.
Hundreds of businesses have sought tax savings from the state before the Chapter 313 program expires. Two companies say they are missing out despite being eligible.
The propositions on the May 7 ballot would lower property taxes by shifting more public school costs to the state. But the measures’ language can be hard to understand.
Texas school districts, cities and counties rely heavily on property taxes to pay for roads, libraries, police, firefighters and public schools. But lowering tax bills has long been a difficult endeavor.
Texas lawmakers tried to lower property tax bills during their 2019 session, and a new report says they put a dent in the problem: Taxes aren’t rising as quickly as they would have. But they didn’t solve it: Property taxes are still rising.
The increases are being felt across the county, but the more affordable areas saw the largest increases as far as percentages.
State lawmakers will tell you they hate property taxes as much as anyone. But the state itself doesn’t levy the tax — local governments do. And lowering it in a meaningful way would require state officials to raise taxes or cut programs. For them, talking about it is easier than doing something.
Twenty-five states, including California and New York, preceded Texas in getting federally backed programs up and running to help homeowners suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19.
If two propositions pass, the state will increase school funding to make up for revenues lost from a decrease in property taxes.
Most voters approve of using state money to add border barriers between Texas and Mexico. But 57% disapprove of a new abortion law’s provision allowing lawsuits against people who help someone get the procedure.
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High Texas property taxes were an issue in the state's 2018 elections, and you can see from their work on a new homestead exemption earlier this week that state lawmakers didn't forget that lesson from voters.