How to effectively offer Texans proper tax relief continues to be a battle among the House and the Senate.
During a Texas House of Representatives legislative session held last week, attendees considered House Bill 2, which seeks to lower appraisal caps, and state Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) attempted to offer an amendment to the legislation. His amendment ultimately sought to increase the amount of money intended for the compression of the school maintenance and operations portion of the property tax to an amount that would actually qualify as the largest property tax cut in state history.
"With almost $33 billion over-collected from Texans, the state owes them the biggest tax cut in our state’s history! Disappointed to see the House reject that proposal. Thank you to my 19 colleagues who joined me in trying to provide more relief to our constituents," Tinderholt wrote in an April 13 tweet.
On April 13, the Texas House of Representatives considered legislation authored by state Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas). House Bill 2 seeks to lower the appraisal caps from the current threshold of 10%, as it applies to homestead property, down to 5%, while allowing the cap to apply to all real property. The legislation also seeks to provide for the additional compression of the school M&O (maintenance and operations) portion of the property tax, notably more than double the compression being offered in leading Texas Senate proposals.
Prior to the session, Tinderholt prefiled an amendment to the bill, which would have provided $20 billion in school M&O compression and given Texas taxpayers an amount of property tax relief that truly qualifies as the largest property tax cut in Texas history, as Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has promised.
On Jan. 17, Abbott delivered his third inaugural address, highlighting Texas’ economic success and calling for record-breaking property tax cuts for the first time this year.
“We now have the largest budget surplus in the history of our state. But make no mistake, that money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the taxpayers," Abbott said in his address. "We will use that budget surplus to provide the largest property tax cut in Texas history.”
According to analysts at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the current largest property tax cut in Texas history was $14.2 billion, passed in 2006. Adjusted for inflation, if Texans were to receive the same property tax cut today, they would need to realize property tax relief of over $20 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The amendment filed by Tinderholt was ultimately unsuccessful, as it fell in a motion to table by Meyer with a vote of 118-20. There were 60 Republicans in total who voted against the effort, despite the principles held by the party’s state platform. Stated in the 2022 Republican Party of Texas Platform is the following: "Property Tax Relief: We support these incremental steps toward the ultimate abolition of property tax: Dedicate surpluses to buy down school district maintenance and operation property tax."
According to Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, the following 19 lawmakers joined Tinderholt in support of his amendment: Republican state Reps. Cecil Bell Jr. (Magnolia), Briscoe Cain (Deer Park), Tom Craddick (Midland), Mark Dorazio (San Antonio), Gary Gates (Richmond), Brian Harrison (Midlothian), Carrie Isaac (Wimberley), Four Price (Arlington), Matt Schaefer (Tyler), Nate Schatzline (Fort Worth), Mike Schofield (Katy), Bryan Slaton (Royse City), Valoree Swanson (Spring), Steve Toth (The Woodlands), Cody Vasut (Angleton), and Terry Wilson (Georgetown). And Democrat state Reps. Terry Meza (Irving), Christina Morales (Houston) and Ana-Maria Ramos (Richardson).
The Texas Tribune reports that the House and the Senate hold major discrepancies over how to expend the property tax relief that's been long promised by the state’s top Republicans, with leaders from the two chambers disagreeing over their main proposals. The House’s chief idea to cut taxes is to limit property appraisals for homes and businesses, while the Senate seeks to boost the state’s homestead exemption and give targeted tax cuts to businesses. The House bill also provides for some $2.7 billion more in property tax cuts than the Senate version includes.
