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Homeowners have saved billions in property taxes due to 2019 legislative reforms

For Immediate Release                                                                                     Contact: Kirsten Voinis

April 4, 2022                                                                                (512) 922-7141, kvoinis@kvoinis.com

 

Homeowners have saved billions in property taxes due to 2019 legislative reforms

TTARA research looks at impact of HB 3 and SB 2

A new Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) research report finds that Texas property owners are benefitting from the Legislature’s efforts to break the cycle of rising appraisals driving up tax bills. The Legislature’s property tax reforms of 2019 shaved $6 billion, or 8%, off what tax bills would otherwise have been in 2021.

The landmark bills – House Bill 3 by Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Humble) and Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) – made major changes to school finance and local government budgeting practices by constraining the amount of property taxes that taxing jurisdictions can collect without the approval of their voters. HB 3 essentially limits school tax growth to 2.5%, while SB 2 limits most other large taxing units to increases of 3.5% before voters must approve.

“When property appraisal notices arrive in the mail soon, Texas homeowners likely will experience sticker shock because of our state’s sizzling real estate market,” said TTARA President Dale Craymer. “However, unlike past years, rising appraisals won’t likely translate to substantially higher tax bills, as the massive tax reforms passed by the Legislature have slowed the spiraling growth of property tax rates.”

The TTARA study – Relief from Rising Values: 2019 Property Tax Reforms Cutting Tax Rates at a Record Pace – shows that while HB 3 and SB 2 have only been in effect for a few years, they are having a measurable benefit for homeowners and giving them a greater degree of control over their tax bills than ever before. While tax bills are increasing, they’re rising slower than both income and inflation.

In 2021, Texas property taxes were a record $73 billion. But without HB 3 and SB 2, those tax bills would have totaled $79 billion.

“HB 3 and SB 2, though not cutting existing tax bills, has taken a substantial sting out of future tax increases and will benefit Texans for years to come,” Craymer said. “By no means has the property tax beast been slain, but its power is clearly being tamed.”

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The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) is a non-profit, non-partisan membership-supported organization of businesses and individuals interested in state and local fiscal policies in Texas and the way those policies impact the state’s economy.

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