Greg Abbott Says He’ll Keep Calling Special Sessions Until Property Tax Relief Bill Reaches His Desk
Originally posted by Chad Littell and Parimal M. Rohit, CoStar News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called the state’s legislators back to the Capitol for a second special session that will focus exclusively on lowering property taxes.
The special session started Tuesday and is the second one since the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature wrapped up its regular 88th session at the end of May. The Texas Legislature meets every two years in Austin for a five-month regular session.
Abbott’s agenda for the first extended session also prioritized lowering property taxes but the state’s senators and representatives failed to agree on a bill to send to the governor’s desk. The Texas governor is hopeful for a different result for the second special session.
“I called another special session to deliver on our promise to provide the largest property tax cut in Texas history,” Abbott said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday. “Hardworking Texans deserve lasting property tax cuts. When the House & Senate come to an agreement & send a property tax cut bill to my desk, I will sign it.”
Abbott’s agenda for the second special session includes two items:
- Legislation to cut property-tax rates solely by reducing the school district maximum compressed tax rate in order to provide lasting property-tax relief for Texas taxpayers.
- Legislation to put Texas on a pathway to eliminating school district maintenance and operations property taxes.
“Special sessions will continue to focus on only property tax cuts until property tax cut legislation reaches my desk,” Abbott said in a statement.
About 40 organizations and business groups across Texas have expressed support for Abbott’s plan to cut school property tax rates, including the Texas Apartment Association, Texas Association of Manufacturers, Texas Building Owners and Managers Association, Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, Texas Restaurant Association and the Texas Retailers Association.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, said in a statement Tuesday that eliminating school property taxes altogether would result in higher sales taxes, “which clearly has no support from the legislature or the people.”
However, the Texas Senate is looking forward to “working with the House to pass property tax relief legislation in the coming weeks,” Patrick said.
“The Senate will continue to support cutting the tax rate through compression. We will insist upon a homestead exemption, giving homeowners a $1,250 to $1,450 annual tax cut as opposed to receiving only $740 without a homestead exemption,” Patrick said. “We will pass the same bill that we passed to the House last week that cuts school property taxes for the average homeowner by nearly 43%, almost double the tax cut one would receive with only compression.”
Homeowners in Texas can reduce their property taxes through a homestead exemption. The exemption removes a portion of the homeowner’s home value from taxation, which reduces the amount of tax revenue a local school district would otherwise receive.