(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he wants to overhaul the state’s property tax system if he is elected to a fourth term.
Abbott announced his reelection bid on Sunday in Houston highlighting two signature campaign promises: the property tax overhaul and his repeated vow to turn the Democratic stronghold of Harris County to a Republican majority.
“Texas is not just another state. It’s our home. Our heritage. Texas is the heartbeat of this land we call America,” Abbott said. “As Texans, we will defend this state with every fiber of our being. We will protect what we built, finish what we started, and lead Texas into its glorious future.”
While Abbott and the Republican-led Texas legislature have worked to reduce property taxes while he’s been in office, local government property tax increases and increased spending have eroded any gains made at the state level, The Center Square has reported. Texas has the seventh-highest property taxes in the country, based on 2023 data, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation.
“It’s time to drive a stake through the heart of local property tax hikes for good,” Abbott said. “We are going to turn the tables on local taxing authorities, put the power with the people, and put an end to out-of-control property taxes in Texas.”
His sweeping property tax reform plan includes restraining local governments, implementing additional property appraisal caps and eliminating the school district property tax altogether. It would be advanced in the next legislative session in 2027. The legislature meets every two years.
Abbott’s property tax plan would include changing state law to limit local government spending to population plus inflation or 3.5%, whichever is lower, to “ensure fiscal responsible governance.”
It also includes requiring local governments to follow a state policy of having a debt limit, prohibit deficit spending and obtain a two-thirds voter approval for local property tax increases in order to take effect.
It also proposes a method for property owners to repeal property taxes: if 15% of registered voters in a local area sign a petition, they can force a rollback election to lower the property tax rate.
The plan also includes revamping the appraisal process by requiring all properties to be appraised only once every five years, meaning “fewer surprises, less red tape and more peace of mind for Texas families and businesses.”
The plan also would caps appraisal growth at 3%. Currently, state law limits appraisal value growth of homestead properties to 10% every year. The cap has done little to prevent Texans from being priced out of their homes, critics argue. The cap would also be expanded to include all properties, including rental and business properties.
The most significant part of the plan includes eliminating the school property tax for homeowners altogether. This includes the legislature passing a bill tied to a constitutional amendment. If the bill passes, voters would approve or reject a constitutional amendment to eliminate the tax.
With $90 million in his campaign account, Abbott also again vowed to turn Harris County red. The Democratic stronghold, the largest county in Texas and third largest in the country, was once a Republican stronghold. Its residents voted for every Republican president from 1952 to 2004, with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1964. The last Republican president Harris County voters supported was Texas’ former governor: George W. Bush.
In 2008, Barack Obama was the first Democrat to win the county in more than 40 years; no Republican has won it since. Democrats swept many seats in the county in 2008. In 2018, Democrats swept the judicial branch, ushering in a new crime wave by implementing a policy to release violent offenders onto the streets. Abbott, the state legislature and voters hope a new law and constitutional amendment will reverse this trend.
In 1990, for the first time since Reconstruction, voters elected a Republican majority to the Harris County Commissioner’s Court. That gain was later wiped out; the court now holds a Democratic supermajority. Houston, the county seat, has one of the largest concentrations of Democrats in the state. Abbott is hoping to change this by pouring support and funds into Republican challenger races. The last two elections saw significant gains in the judicial branch, The Center Square reported.
If reelected next year, Abbott would become the second longest serving governor in Texas history after Gov. Rick Perry.
Perry served from December 2000 to January 2015. Abbott took office in January 2015.
There are no term limits for governor in the state of Texas.
