(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is promoting his five-point property tax reform plan and encouraging voters to support it.
He spoke to a packed crowd at a campaign event Wednesday in Houston, one of the five largest cities in the U.S. that doesn’t have enough money to pay its bills, The Center Square reported. Local and county officials continue to increase taxes as infrastructure crumbles, allegations of corruption continue, and the largest public school district in Texas, Houston ISD, was taken over by the state.
The event was among the first of many he will be holding statewide in partnership with Americans for Prosperity-Texas, which is supporting the initiative.
“We know the burden that Texans are facing because of skyrocketing property taxes,” Abbott said. During the last legislative session, Abbott signed a property tax relief measure that increased the homestead exemption to $140,000 and to $200,000 for seniors.
In the last few legislative sessions, the legislature has increased the homestead exemption, a plan again being proposed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. When asked about this, Abbott told The Center Square the legislature “cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. It will not provide lasting, long-term property tax reform.
“If we go back to Austin and do the same thing over again and expect a different result, that’s what you call insanity. And we cannot live in that insane world. Instead, we’ve got to deliver something completely different.”
Abbott said he and the legislature have “delivered the largest property tax relief ever provided by any governor in American history, $51 billion” in the last legislative session alone. But spiking appraisals and local government tax hikes wiped out most of it.
One reason property taxes keep increasing is because local jurisdiction spending is out of control, Abbott said. He also clarified that the state does not impose property taxes, only local taxing authorities. And while the state has constitutional spending limits, not all taxing jurisdictions do. In Harris County, Democratic commissioners increased property taxes by nearly 14% over two years, he said.
“What have they been spending their money on? It’s been going through the roof,” Abbott said.
Abbott’s five-point plan proposes the state legislature impose budget constraints for local governments: either spending to population plus inflation or 3.5% (the lesser of the two). “Other safeguards like the state’s debt limit and prohibition on deficit spending or common sense policies that should apply to all levels of government” to institute fiscal responsibility, he says.
The plan requires a two-thirds vote for taxing authorities to impose property tax increases to make it “harder, not easier, for local governments to take your hard-earned money.” It also proposes a way to roll back property taxes if 15% of registered voters in a local area sign a petition, they would be able to force lowering their tax rates.
The appraisal process also needs to be reformed, Abbott said. Appraisals are also “going through the roof … because Texas law currently allows it to go up 10% a year. That has to stop,” he said. His plan would reduce the limit to 3% a year with an appraisal every five years instead of every year.
This applies to homeowners and businesses, including owners of multifamily housing. Landlords have been increasing rent to offset property tax increases not protected by homestead exemptions. Abbott says his plan will help lower renters’ costs also.
His plan also proposes eliminating the school property tax. “Public education is a responsibility of the state of Texas. The state should pay for public education, not your homestead,” Abbott said. “The state will assume that full responsibility to fully fund education. And in turn, you are going to have a home that you’re going to be able to live in and afford for the rest of your lives.”
Abbott’s plan also proposes a constitutional amendment for voters to eliminate school district property taxes on homeowners.
AFP notes that local debt through bonds has now surpassed $500 billion, as local jurisdictions, including failing school districts, continue to push 40-year multi-billion dollar debt plans. In one election cycle last year alone, 472 bonds were on ballots totaling at least $90 billion in tax increases, The Center Square reported. In Houston’s Cy-Fair ISD, whose superintendent refuses to comply with an order Abbott issued, the district is proposing another $1.76 billion bond on top of a $1.76 billion bond that passed six years ago.
The governor and AFP-Texas are campaigning statewide to garner support ahead of the May and November elections and legislative session next year. The effort is similar to Abbott’s years-long campaign partnering with the Texas Public Policy Foundation to get Texas’ first school choice bill passed.
Property tax reform is possible if voters “hold accountable every state representative, every state senator, and make sure they support my plan to slash your property taxes,” Abbott said. “If you can deliver that and hold these people up for election accountable, I will have the power that I need in the Texas capitol to ensure we deliver lasting, enduring property tax relief for every Texan.”
