Greetings blogHOUSTONians!
Well, there are lots of things going on at any one time, as usual. I decided to keep this post short and sweet, and focus on one topic. Namely, if you’re one of the many Texans who are outraged about rising property taxes, then you’d better listen up. The Houston Chronicle ran a post on 28 March 2022 stating that in addition to some runoff ballot races (taking place on 24 May), there will be two Texas state constitutional amendments on the ballot (on 7 May). From the article:
Proposition 1 would approve the tax cuts for elderly and disabled homeowners beginning in 2023, while a second measure seeks to raise the state’s homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000, lowering school property taxes.
The Texas secretary of state’s website has this page, which describes the ballot measures in more detail. The explanatory statements on each ballot measure read:
Proposition Number 1
SJR 2 (87th Legislature, 2nd Special Session) proposes a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of property taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled in order to reflect any statutory reduction in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the person’s homestead from the preceding tax year.
Proposition Number 2
SJR 2 (87th Legislature, 3rd Special Session) proposes a constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from property taxes for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000.
So there you have it. The first ballot proposal authorizes a reduction of taxes for elderly or disabled people for school taxes, while the second proposal raises the overall homestead exemption for government school taxes from $25,000 to $40,000.
Senator Paul Bettencourt has gone on record as saying the first ballot measure would offer tax relief for 1.8 million elderly people and some 180,000 Texans with disabilities. The second ballot measure, increasing homestead exemptions, would cut property taxes for schools by at least $176 million starting this year.
So, to reiterate, if you’re looking for a break from taxes, inflation, and all the other stuff being inflicted on you by the political classes, well here’s your chance to push back. According to Harris Votes, early voting for the 7 May 2022 election starts on 25 April and goes on through 3 May, and you don’t want those property tax hikes to stick, do you? This election is right around the corner, so be sure to get out and vote!
Note: This article has been updated to reflect the separate election dates of 7 May (constitutional election) and 24 May (primary runoff election).
The constitutional election on SATURDAY May 7 (early voting Apr 25 – May 3) is not the primary runoff.
The primary runoff is Tuesday, May 24 (early voting May 16-20).
Annoying, expensive, awful, and confusing. But important to differentiate. BOTH elections are important, of course.
Leslie,
Thanks for posting the correction. I just looked up on Ballotpedia, and the date of the runoff is indeed May 24th.
( https://ballotpedia.org/Municipal_elections_in_Harris_County,_Texas_(2022) )
Neal
These are two very significant and impactful proposals. They will play a key role in providing property tax relief to homeowners. SJR #2 also ensures that school funding will not suffer because of the homestead exemption raise!
“The legislature shall provide for formulas to protect
school districts against all or part of the revenue loss incurred by
the implementation of this subsection”