James Quintero, policy director with the Texas Public Policy Foundation cheered Gov. Greg Abbott's support of using part of the state budget surplus to reduce property taxes.
"This is encouraging news that could signal big-time tax relief and reform ahead!" Quintero wrote in a May 12 newsletter.
On May 11, Abbott endorsed the idea of using the surplus to reduce property taxes long-term.
“I strongly support using the state surplus to reduce the amount of property taxes owed,” said Abbott told KPRC 2 Investigates.
The governor made it clear that if the surplus would be used, it would be a long-term solution aimed at eliminating the maintenance and operations portion of property taxes: “This has to be done in a way so mathematically it can be calculated so if we put in a billion or five billion whatever, it will be enduring for every year into the future,” Abbott said.
While Abbott noted that the solution will not be immediate, he did give a nod to 2019 reforms that should temper property tax growth expectations. “I can tell you for a fact, property tax rates across Texas are going to go down,” the governor said.
If the surplus plan were to be implemented, “We can actually compress that tax rate all the way down to zero and that will provide people with lots of tax relief," Quintero told Click2Houston.
A report from the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association noted that the Senate Bills 2 and 3 from 2019 significantly helped alleviate the property tax burdens that Texans have been feeling and are concerned about this year. "HB 3 and SB 2 constrained the ability of taxing jurisdictions to raise the amount of property taxes they collect without the approval of their voters," the report said. "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."
School maintenance and operations levies accounted for $30.1 billion in 2021, the report said.
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