Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made cutting property taxes for Texans one of the top priorities this legislative session.
During his state of the state address earlier this week, Gov. Abbott said he wants at least $10 billion in new property tax relief and declared property tax cuts an “emergency item” for the Texas Legislature.
"Last session, we slashed your property taxes, but for many Texans, those cuts were wiped out by local taxing authorities that hiked your property taxes even more, Gov. Abbott said. "That must end this session."
Gov. Abbott called out Harris County in particular for how loopholes were used to increase property taxes in 2024. He suggests no taxing entity should be able to raise property taxes without a two-thirds approval by voters.
"Local authorities cannot use loopholes to jack up your property taxes like Harris County did," said Abbott. "They increased property taxes more than 10% last year."
Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Harris County said the county used the severe weather events from last year as an excuse to raise taxes by even more than they announced.
"Having a county judge saying something is in an 8% increase when all the math points to a 15 needs to be stopped," Sen. Bettencourt said of Judge Lina Hidalgo. "She shouldn't have the ability to go to the public for that type of money."
In a study conducted last month by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, most Texans want lawmakers to use the state’s $24 billion budget surplus to help homeowners with more tax relief. One issue facing the state Legislature is that they don’t have as much money this time around as in 2023 when the budget surplus was $33 billion.
Texas still boasts a budget surplus, but it’s not as large as the $33 billion the state had heading into the 2023 legislative session. Lawmakers have set aside
$6 billion in the state’s upcoming two-year budget has already been set aside to put toward new tax cuts. About half of that is already going towards something, meaning lawmakers have to look in other areas to find more money for more tax cuts.
Sen. Bettencourt believes it will be a tough hill to climb to cut property taxes, noting the price tag.
Property taxes are not collected by the state but instead by school districts and local governments. Texas lawmakers have sent billions of dollars to school districts in recent years.
Texas is towards the top in the highest property taxes paid in the country.