The Texas Senate Committee quickly on Tuesday and unanimously advanced proposal to provide billions of dollars tax relief to homeowners in an attempt to dull high accounts for state ownership tax.
The Senate Bill 4, the proposal for the ownership tax of this chamber, will determine the state exemption from the state exemption from the state taxes worth $ 140,000 in value, which is the amount exempt from taxation of taxes for the payment of public schools. The current release is $ 100,000.
The Senate Local Government Committee approved the 6-0 votes on Tuesday. The bill now goes to the full vote senate.
“This is a real money for the people to keep them in their homes,” says State Senator Paul Bettencurt, a Republican in Houston, who is the author of the bill.
The Texas legislators this year once again swore to cope with the high taxes on the ownership of the state, intending to bring relief to home and business owners. Governor Greg Abat has determined the reduction of the property tax “emergency element”, which allows legislators to quickly accept legislation – and urged them to spend billions to continue to reduce ownership taxes.
Senate budget writers are allocating $ 3 billion to increase a farm’s exemption to the upcoming two -year state budget. An increase in release would cost the state $ 7.7 billion by 2030, according to an evaluation of the legislative budget.
Legislators are also expecting to send an additional $ 3 billion to school districts over the next two years so that they can reduce their tax rates – the legislators of the costs involved in previous sessions.
In combination, these abbreviations would save a homeowner, paying the average tax rate of the school area about $ 528 for their taxes last year, if these measures were in force, a Texas tribune calculation shows.
Texas pay among the highest ownership taxes in the country, according to the Tax Foundation. These accounts are high as the state does not have a tax on income and is largely based on ownership taxes to pay for public schools, police officers, firefighters and streets among other public services. The average tax account for the Texas owner in Texas has increased by nearly 30% from 2010 to 2023, according to the US Bureau of the US Bureau – almost three times faster than the country as a whole.
In the last few years, Republican MPs have insisted that accounts to increase ownership tax arise. This impetus ended in 2023 with $ 12.7 billion new tax reductions, including an increase in state exemption and billions of dollars for school districts to reduce how much they collect in ownership taxes.
Housing owners throughout the country seem to be relieved of this legislation, combined with other moves adopted from 2019, an analysis of Texas Tribune of the found tax accounts of housing owners.
The amount of the school districts of money collected from ownership taxes increased in 2024 after these revenue fell in the previous year, calculated from the exposition of the Texas Controller’s office. The average tax account of homeowners in the cities of Travis, Harris and Dallas has also grown, according to Tribune’s assessment, using local evaluation and tax rates – partly due to the growth of ownership values. Some localities in the cities of Travis and Harris have also increased their tax rates.
4.2 million households of the state will not directly benefit from increasing the exemption from a farm, as property owners do not be eligible for the release of Homestead. Tenants pay ownership taxes through their rent, but Texas does not provide direct tax relief for them, as well as homeowners.
In response to a question from the state senator, asks Cook, Democrat in Houston, Bettencort said that tenants will benefit from $ 3 billion MPs that lawmakers plan to use to reduce tax rates at school, as landlords will transfer benefits from reducing of tenants’ taxes to remain competitive. The growth of the rent has slowed significantly in the main metropolitan areas of the country – and in the Austin region the rents have fallen for almost two years.
Bill supporters said the increase in the exemption from a farm would reduce the cost of existing homeowners who face increased housing costs not only from taxes but also for articles such as housing owners. They said that the increase in release would also reduce the barrier to the ownership of the Texas Housing, which may otherwise be difficult to raise their feet in the present market. This may mean that home buyers for the first time or longtime homeowners who may want to move, said Dixon Holman, a real estate agent in Arlington, who sits on the Texas board.
“This is not a panacea, but it certainly matters,” Holman told the legislators on Tuesday.
But the bigger tax breaks can actually contribute to higher housing prices, a recent study from New York University and the University of Hamburg. Researchers have found that homeowners are less likely to move if they receive more tax breaks. This leads to less homes on the market, which increases prices as competition increases with limited supply of homes. Texas has more homes on the market than during the Covid-19 pandemic, but is still facing a steep shortage.
Senate legislators are allocating another $ 500 million to fund business tax reduction. It is not yet clear exactly how these will work because the accompanying legislation has not been filed ..
It is also not yet clear how the Texas House intends to pursue a reduction in property tax this year. The newly elected chairman of the Chamber Dustin Burrose, R-Lubbock, has not yet appointed commissions, so the legislation has not yet begun to move in this chamber.
This article originally appeared in Texas Tribune, maintained by members, a non -party newspaper that informs and engaging texses of state policy and politics.
By james art 