Last month's $18 billion property tax cut deal is about giving tax relief to "hardworking Texans," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a social media post.
Abbott took to Twitter on Tuesday, July 25, to announce the biggest property tax cut in the state's history.
"Hardworking Texans delivered the largest budget surplus in the history of our state," Abbott said in his Twitter post. "That money belongs to them. I proudly signed into law the LARGEST property tax cut in Texas history, delivering over $18 billion in relief back to taxpayers."
The Texas Tribune reported the day prior to Abbott's Twitter post that the Lone Star State has the distinction of having some of the nation’s highest property taxes. The property tax legislation was fulfillment of one of Abbott's promises made during his re-election bid last year. The Austin-based online media outlet reported that Senate Bill 2, the property tax cuts bill, and Senate Bill 3, a franchise tax relief bill, passed both chambers of the Texas Legislature last month.
A third piece of legislation, House Joint Resolution 2, will be on the ballot as a constitutional election in November for voter approval to allow the package of property tax cuts to take effect this year.
State House Democrats failed to muster colleagues' approval for their own versions of tax relief, the Texas Tribune reported. Under their plans, tenants would’ve received a cash refund equaling up to 10% of the rent they paid last year and the homestead exemption would’ve been set at $200,000, just $100,000 more than the figure in the present legislation, the website reported.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/24/texas-abbott-property-tax-cut/
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) wrote both Senate bills, according to coverage by Austin ABC affiliate Channel 24. The station reported that more than $12 billion of the package is earmarked for the reduction school property tax rate for all homeowners and business properties by nearly 11 cents, and homestead exemption for homeowners will jump from $40,000 to $100,000, among other things.
"We’re giving back the people’s money, so we need the people to say yes," Bettencourt said in the Channel 24 report.