The Texas legislative session ended about a month ago. Governor Abbott did not call for a special session, so the legislature is now dismissed until early 2021.
As we have discussed previously, the Governor’s main agenda item was property tax reform. As the session was winding down, it was not clear whether the legislature was actually going to pass some kind of reform. At the very end, however, it did finally pass a tax reform bill – which the Governor signed into law. In this blog post, we discuss the details of that new law.
The new law has two limits imposed on taxing units in Texas:
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The first requires cities, counties, and other taxing units to receive voter approval if its revenue collected is going to increase more than 3.5% from the previous year.
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The second raises that threshold to 8% for community colleges, hospital districts, and units with the lowest rates.
It is important to note, this increase in tax revenue only applies to buildings that existed the previous year. Any new buildings constructed during the year do not apply to the revenue increase caps.
This bill will not – and was not intended to – lower property taxes. It also will not affect or lower the appraised values of your properties. All it will do is hopefully slow the amount of yearly increase in the property taxes you have to pay.
If you have any questions about your property taxes or any other real estate issues, please do not hesitate to contact Bukowski Law Firm at 512-614-0335.
