AUSTIN – The Texas House yesterday passed the Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1 that provides $1.2 billion in local property tax relief by raising the $15,000 homestead exemption for school districts by $10,000. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy Director Talmadge Heflin issued the following statement:
“Texas homeowners will see more money in their pocket than under current law from the action taken by the House. This will provide needed relief from an excessive property tax burden that ranks as the 14th most punitive nationwide. On average, homeowners could see as much as $125 more per year in their pockets where it belongs. It is encouraging that the House’s version keeps tax dollars spent to hold school districts harmless under the spending limit. Along with passage of this version of SB 1, and with the passage of HB 32, that will cut the costly business franchise tax by 25 percent, a meaningful tax reduction package will be in place. These actions taken to solidify an almost $4 billion tax package will make Texans from all walks of life this session’s winner.”
The Honorable Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In the 78th Session, Heflin served as chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and navigated a $10 billion state budget shortfall through targeted spending cuts that allowed Texans to avoid a tax increase.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.