House Speaker Dade Phelan has said tightening the appraisal cap is the best way to cut property taxes, but Senate tax-cut proponents, housing experts and business groups predict the move would have dire consequences.
Joshua Fechter
Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Posted in
Politics
Former elections chief Chris Hollins drops bid for Houston mayor
Facing a crowded field, Hollins, who served briefly as Harris County clerk in 2020, announced Thursday he will instead run to be Houston’s chief financial officer.
Posted in
Politics
Texas drops effort to punish Harris County over its law enforcement spending
The fight is the latest skirmish between Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Harris County leaders over whether they “defunded” law enforcement.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Rift grows between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan over how to cut property taxes
The Senate wants to raise the homestead exemption. The House wants to tighten the appraisal cap. Both chambers’ leaders are skeptical of each other’s proposal.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State troopers will help Austin with police patrols as the city struggles with an officer shortage
Austin officials view the partnership as a stopgap measure as they try to fill the city’s more than 200 police vacancies.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate passes $16.5 billion package to lower property taxes
The proposals target the taxes homeowners pay and require school districts to lower their tax rates.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
To tackle high housing costs, Texas lawmakers push to build more homes
Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
The Texas House and Senate differ on how to cut property taxes. Here’s what their proposals say.
Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas renters got unprecedented help during the pandemic. The Legislature is unlikely to extend it.
Lawmakers will decide whether to keep protections that shielded tenants from eviction — or to ban them.
Posted in
Transportation
After a two-year pause, feds give Texas the go-ahead to resume a major Houston highway expansion
Across the state, major projects have drawn fierce opposition in recent years amid a reckoning over how freeway construction in the mid-20th century created and exacerbated racial and economic segregation.
