Election and Your Coming Property Tax Appraisal

April 10, 2022

Constitutional Amendment Election


On Saturday, May 7th there will be two propositions on the ballot. Both of these were bills passed during the Legislative Special Sessions of 2021. Below is a summary of what these propositions would do. Early voting will begin on Monday, April 25th.  

Proposition 1 will benefit individuals with an over 65 or disabled exemption on their homestead.

Ballot Language

 “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the homestead.”

Summary

  • If an individual has an over 65/disabled exemption on their home and this proposition passes, they will receive a reduction on school district property taxes.
  • HB 3 from the 86th Legislature compressed school maintenance and operation tax rates across the board except for over 65/disabled because their rate was already lower than the new compressed rate for everyone else.
  • This amendment will provide for the same percentage reduction in an individual’s school district tax rate that everyone else received in 2019.  
  • There are 1.8 million over 65 exemptions and 180,000 disabled exemptions, on average these households will see a $100 reduction the first year and $125 reduction in the second year; the reduction will continue to grow each year.
  • If there is additional school M&O tax rate compression provided by HB 3 in the future, individuals with an over 65/disabled exemption will receive the same percentage tax rate deduction automatically if this amendment passes.
  • This amendment will become effective as of January, 1, 2023, if it passes.

Proposition 2 will increase the homestead exemption by $15,000.
Ballot Language

“The constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000.”

Summary

  • If this amendment passes the state homestead exemption for school district taxable value purposes will increase from $25,000 to $40,000. 
  • On average, the 5.67 million homesteads in Texas will see a $175 savings in their school district tax bill at the current average statewide school property tax rate.
  • This amendment will be effective as of January 1, 2022 if it passes, so homeowners will see the savings when they receive their property tax bill this fall. 
  • This exemption increase is a permanent and ongoing benefit to homeowners. 

Note on Impact on School Funding 

I think it is important to note, that if one or both of these amendments passes, no school district will lose any revenue they are entitled to receive from the school funding formulas. State dollars will replace any local dollars that a school district would otherwise lose from the passage of these amendments.   

Appraisal Notices Will Be In Mail Soon 


This is a great report explaining the rise in property values due to our skyrocketing real estate market. No matter what your appraisal is, the truth is that the taxes you pay are based on the tax rates adopted by local jurisdictions. Rising appraisals doesn’t automatically correlate with higher tax bills. According to TTARA, without the changes the legislature recently enacted, property tax bills would have been 8% higher in 2021. Most local jurisdictions begin public hearings late in the summer and then will adopt a rate shortly thereafter so I encourage you to follow and engage in that process.  

Having said this, property tax relief and border security are the top two issues facing Texans and are both priorities of mine. There is still much more that can be done to ease the overall property tax burdens on residential property owners and I look forward to working on these issues in the next legislative session.  

Please read this report HERE.