AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Texas House of Representatives approved a duo of bills designed to lower property taxes for homeowners, fulfilling one of the governor's agenda items in the second special session.
However, one of the bills -- Senate Bill 10 -- was drastically changed by House members during floor debate on Monday, and there was an unintended error in the final version that passed. Those changes will likely have to be hashed out by lawmakers in both chambers during close-door meetings before it becomes law.
The bill that caused the most debate, SB 10, centered on when a local taxing entity has to get approval from voters to raise its tax rate.
Lowering the voter-approval tax rate
The voter-approval tax rate (VATR) is a cap placed on local taxing entities that limits how much the tax rate can be raised before getting approval from voters. Current Texas law requires local taxing entities to get approval from their voters if they propose a tax rate that will increase their yearly revenue by more than 3.5% from the previous year.
The original bill passed by the Texas Senate last week lowered the VATR from 3.5% to 2.5% for taxing entities located in cities and counties with a population bigger than 75,000. Smaller cities would still have the 3.5% VATR under the Senate plan.
"It's time to take another step and rein in growth of city and county tax bills," State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said in a news release after his bill passed the Senate. "That logical next step is SB 10, aligning city and county VATR with the 2.5% collection limit already in place for school districts, letting voters decide to approve tax increases above the limit in November."
State Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-University Park, carried SB 10 in the lower chamber as it made its way through the House Ways and Means committee unchanged. But when it got to the House floor it faced resistance from both parties.
State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, shared concerns on the House floor that the bill did not provide meaningful enough tax relief for homeowners. "The people in my district who have calculated this tax relief anticipate that it's going to be roughly equivalent to an annual Starbucks run," Little explained.
Meyer responded to Little's claim and said the amount of tax relief would depend on the city or county someone is in. He added that he did think SB 10 was meaningful property tax relief.
Large cities vs small cities
Democrats raised concerns the lowered cap on only large cities and counties is unfair. Meyer countered that argument saying the budgets for smaller cities are already small, and any increase would be small enough that it would not be practical to hold an election to approve an increase.
The House changed the bill three times on the House floor after Republicans offered amendments. Republicans in rural areas felt it was unfair to their constituents that they were not included in a bill designed to lower property tax bills.
State Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, offered an amendment to apply the lower VATR to every city and county taxing entity. He said the current bill would only apply to less than 5% of cities.
"We should treat every taxpayer the same," Money said when laying out his amendment. "Every city the same."
State Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur, proposed an amendment to include municipal utility districts to this bill as well. MUDs are specialized districts that provide critical infrastructure to areas outside of city limits. Meyer motioned to kill both Hopper's and Money's amendments, but they prevailed.
The last amendment by State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, proposed lowering the VATR even further to 1%, but it exempts all public safety spending for police, fire, jails, and emergency medical services. It was approved, however, an error was made in Patterson's amendment.
The language of his amendment said the public safety exemption only applied to cities and counties with more than 75,000 people, as was the provision included in the original bill before it was changed. Since Money's amendment was approved before Patterson's, the current version of the bill now lowers the VATR for small cities to 1% with no exemption for public safety costs.
Patterson tried to fix that error with a perfecting amendment by taking out the 75,000 population threshold, but it failed by one vote.
Requiring more notice on tax increases
Another one of Meyer's bills also received enough votes to advance to a final vote on the House floor. House Bill 17 requires taxing entities to send information about the tax rate via mail to all of the homeowners who would be impacted.
The bill would require school districts to provide information in their tax notice that shows enrollment growth, the inflation rate in the state, the proposed tax rate, and the estimated amount of money the district would receive if it approves the tax rate.
State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, raised concerns that the bill was an unfunded mandate and it would be costly for school districts. During the debate, Turner said one school district in his district estimated it would cost them $30,000 to mail out notices to all its homeowners.
Meyer argued the bill would create more transparency for homeowners to understand if their tax bills are going to rise.
What's next?
HB 17 and the amended version of SB 10 were approved down party lines. Because the two versions of SB 10 are so different, it is likely lawmakers will have to iron out the details in a conference committee.
Bettencourt said his office is looking at the differences and is holding off on commenting right now.
Hence then, the article about texas house approves stricter limits on cities and counties when it comes to raising property taxes was published today ( ) and is available on KXAN ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Texas House approves stricter limits on cities and counties when it comes to raising property taxes )
Also on site :
- Crews respond to large fire at Denny Hamlin's parents' house in Stanley: Sources
- Reported tornado rips roofs off multiple homes in central Illinois
- John Legend Celebrates 47th Birthday With Family Slime Outing in New York