Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is urging voters to support a measure that would lower property taxes in the state.
"Early Voting in the Constitutional Amendment election is underway!" Abbott posted on Twitter. "Get out & do your part to lower property taxes in Texas by voting YES on Propositions 1 & 2."
In the May 7 referendum, voters will have the chance to lower the amount of property values upon which property taxes can be levied. Proposition 1 would lower property taxes for the elderly and disabled, and Proposition 2 would lower property taxes for all Texan homeowners.
According to the Texas Secretary of State's Office, the text of Proposition 1 is as follows: "Proposing a 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."
Proposition 2 proposes "increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes" from $25,000 to $40,000.
In both of these situations, Texas school funding would not be decreased, the Secretary of State's Office said. The state would reimburse any school districts for lost funding due to these propositions.