Texas Scorecard by Darrell Frost May 30, 2023
As part of an ongoing fight regarding property tax relief, the Texas House adjourned the first special session after just one day.The first of several special sessions ended almost as soon as it began, as the House and Senate remain divided on the issue of property tax relief (one of two items on the special session agenda), leading the House to adjourn Sine Die.
While House and Senate leadership went back and forth over which strategy for property tax relief would be most effective during the regular session, Gov. Greg Abbott remained particularly silent on the issue.
Now, he has directed the Legislature to focus “solely” on “reducing the school district maximum compressed tax rate,” or the maximum tax rate school districts can impose on property owners to fund their operating expenses.
Moving with considerable speed, the Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 1 by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), which would increase the homestead exemption to $100,000 and provide 10 cents (per $100 of appraised value) of tax rate compression, totaling $12.1 billion in property tax relief.
When the bill was sent over to the House, however, Phelan said he would not refer it to a committee, as he did not believe it was germane to the governor’s call.
Instead, the House approved House Bill 1 by State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R–Dallas), which would reduce the maximum compressed rate by 16.2 cents and provide around $12.4 billion in relief, significantly less than its final $16.3 billion proposal from the regular session.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/house-adjourns-special-session-remains-at-odds-with-senate-on-property-tax-relief/
