Texas school districts, cities and counties rely heavily on property taxes to pay for roads, libraries, police, firefighters and public schools. But lowering tax bills has long been a difficult endeavor.
property taxes
Posted in
Public Education
Analysis: Property tax relief that doesn’t lower your tax bill
Texas lawmakers tried to lower property tax bills during their 2019 session, and a new report says they put a dent in the problem: Taxes aren’t rising as quickly as they would have. But they didn’t solve it: Property taxes are still rising.
Posted in
Unconventional Wisdom
Analysis: Texas government’s favorite local tax
State lawmakers will tell you they hate property taxes as much as anyone. But the state itself doesn’t levy the tax — local governments do. And lowering it in a meaningful way would require state officials to raise taxes or cut programs. For them, talking about it is easier than doing something.
Posted in
Economy
A year after feds allocate funds, Texas launches program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure because of COVID-19
Twenty-five states, including California and New York, preceded Texas in getting federally backed programs up and running to help homeowners suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19.
Posted in
Politics
Texas voters will decide whether to lower some property tax bills in May election
If two propositions pass, the state will increase school funding to make up for revenues lost from a decrease in property taxes.
Posted in
University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
More Texas voters unhappy than satisfied over power grid, abortion and property taxes, UT/TT Poll finds
Most voters approve of using state money to add border barriers between Texas and Mexico. But 57% disapprove of a new abortion law’s provision allowing lawsuits against people who help someone get the procedure.
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Graphics and data reporting
Texas 2021 constitutional amendment election results
Unofficial results show that Texas voters approved eight amendments to the state Constitution.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: A quick turn on property taxes with the long game in mind
High Texas property taxes were an issue in the state’s 2018 elections, and you can see from their work on a new homestead exemption earlier this week that state lawmakers didn’t forget that lesson from voters.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas voters will decide whether to lower their property tax payments after Legislature completes last-minute Hail Mary
If voters approve the measure next year, it will raise the state’s homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000 for school district property taxes, netting the average homeowner about $176 in savings.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House wants to use federal COVID relief funds to send out $525 checks — but only to homeowners
Republican lawmakers have faced pressure to provide some form of property tax relief this year. Critics of a new proposal say it’s politically timed.
