Texas voters overwhelmingly signed off on a package of property tax cuts Tuesday night.
Texas voters overwhelmingly signed off on a package of property tax cuts Tuesday night, cementing state lawmakers' plan to lighten the burden on homeowners. The changes will more than double the amount that homeowners can shave off the taxable value of their primary residence for school property taxes, raising the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.
Follow Houston mayoral race, Texas propositions and more With the new $100,000 homestead exemption , the owner would be on the hook for a $1,827 bill – a savings of about $521 from the homestead exemption hike alone. Property tax experts say this is the part of the tax-cut package that distributes relief the most equitably: everyone within a school district will see their home’s taxable value reduced by the same amount, as long as it’s worth at least $100,000.
Follow along for latest updates and analysis on Houston and Texas elections Under the old formula – using the $40,000 exemption and a tax rate that's 10.7 cents higher than the current one – the bill would have been about $2,637. That amounts to a combined savings of $810. On top of that, the same homeowner would see about $254 in extra savings from the 2019 round of tax cuts, which will lower rates by another 9.4 cents next year, according to state Sen.
’s tax rate is lower than the median rate of the Houston area’s biggest school districts, many of which do not offer the optional 20 percent extra exemption. The package requires lawmakers to continue paying for local rate cuts in future budgets, though critics say that at some point — like when there’s an economic downturn — the state won’t have enough money to continue footing the bill.
Early numbers show Whitmire and Jackson Lee possibly heading for runoff. Under the Texas Constitution, school property taxes for most property owners are frozen at the amount they paid upon turning 65, while homeowners with disabilities receive the same benefit when they buy a new property. Though that provision leaves them with lower tax bills than some of their neighbors, it also means they did not see any relief when voters raised the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000 last year.
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