Texas Property Taxes are Out of Control

Reason #1 Why Republicans Should Vote Against the Texas Budget

This is the first of Ten Reasons why Texas Republicans should vote against the Texas budget. First published by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Nine more to come. See the overview here.

Since 2019, including this session, the Texas Legislature has increased spending on public schools by about $23 billion in the name of property tax relief. It has done little to help Texans; during that period, Figure 1 shows that property tax revenue paid by Texans has increased by $23.6 billion, or 37%.

What the Legislature has been doing is not working. For instance, school tax increases are supposed to be limited to 2.5% and city and county taxes to 3.5% (without voter approval), but their 2022 tax levies increased 12.8%, 9.1%, and 9.4%, respectively. Another example is that in 2023, when the Texas Legislature appropriated $18 billion dedicated to property tax relief, cities increased their tax levy 10.4%, counties 10.8%, and special purpose districts 22.3%. The result was that property taxes increased despite the $18 billion of “relief.”

This session, legislators have put another $6.25 billion of “property tax relief” in the proposed budget. But they are doing it the exact same way they have done the last six years, and the results will be the same: the statewide total tax levy for all Texans is projected to increase by $2.5 billion this year, reaching a record $89.3 billion.

There is, however, a path to real property tax relief: 1) Freeze school property taxes; 2) Limit state spending growth; 3) Buy down school M&O property taxes with the budget surplus; 4) Require cities, counties, and special purpose districts to seek voter approval for any revenue increase.

Voting against the Texas budget is one of the most important ways to send a message, both to fellow legislators and one’s constituents, that the Legislature must change course and that property tax relief should be the top priority in the budget.