Texans labeled property tax rates as one of the key issues they want addressed, as Election Day is coming up on Nov. 8.
Both gubernatorial candidates — incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and challenger Beto O'Rourke (D) — acknowledged the importance of taxes and promised to lower the financial burden on Texas homeowners, though their solutions are quite different.
"Texas is sitting on a $27 billion surplus because of our record-setting revenue," Abbott said in a recent tweet. "We will use much of it to deliver the largest property tax cut in Texas history."
Abbott and challenger O'Rourke in a debate last month both identified high property tax rates as an issue worthy of action. Abbott promised to use state budget revenues to buy down property tax burdens for homeowners. O'Rourke pointed to increasing the tax burden on commercial properties and mentioned adding new revenue streams such as legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid.
The median effective residential property tax rate in Travis County for 2022 is 1.98%, according to Tax-Rates.org. This figure measures the percent of a home's market value that is collected by taxing authorities, meaning any tax exemptions on the property are factored into the rate.
Tax-Rates.org cited the median effective rate for all of Texas as 1.81%, which means Travis County residents have a property tax burden that is 9% higher than the statewide average.
California and Florida, states that are often compared to Texas, have lower effective property tax rates than the Lone Star State, with rates of 0.74% and 0.97%, respectively, Tax-Rates.org noted. So, Travis County residents have a property tax burden that is 2.68 times higher than Californians and 2.04 times higher than Floridians.
Approximately 64% of Texans live in the 12 most populous of Texas' 254 counties, according to World Population Review. Travis County's 2022 population was listed as 1,343,372, which accounts for 4.49% of the state's residents. The county has seen a 31.15% increase in its population since 2010.