Despite efforts by Texas lawmakers to ease property tax bills, increases in expenses like insurance and utilities ate into that tax relief.
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.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Proposal limiting Texas city, county property taxes dies in the Legislature
The House refused to back a bill that would apply only to the state’s largest cities.
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Texas’ housing crisis
Texas suburbs resist new state law allowing more apartments
Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas House approves bill aimed to limit city, county property taxes
Texas cities and counties have already had their budgets compressed by a variety of factors, including the state’s current property tax limits.
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Redistricting Texas 2025
From Fort Worth to McAllen, Texans could lose clout in Washington if GOP changes political lines
The GOP push to redraw the state’s congressional maps isn’t just a partisan move but one that deeply affects how Texans are represented in Congress.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Senate fast tracks THC ban, flood prep and bathroom restrictions for transgender people
Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Senate OKs stricter limits on city, county property tax revenue
The proposal would put tighter limits on how much property tax revenue cities and counties of a certain size can collect each year.
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Economy
Texas cities, counties may face new limits on raising property taxes
Republican state lawmakers want to curb property tax bills by further limiting how much can be collected by cities and counties.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas GOP once again tries to ban local governments from hiring lobbyists in Austin
Critics of the bill say the state’s smallest cities and school districts will be silenced at the Capitol.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Meet the Californian who pushed Texas lawmakers to help fix the state’s housing crisis
A bipartisan coalition, organized by Nicole Nosek, played a role in getting the Legislature to pass laws tackling the state’s housing affordability woes.