Tax reduction proposals

There are two tax reduction proposals moving through the Texas Legislature with the goal of lowering tax burdens. However, city officials don’t think these proposals will help them. The first proposal, Texas House Bill 2, aims to increase the state’s contribution to public schools by $12 billion, which would allow school districts to lower the tax burden on homeowners while still receiving the same amount of funding. But another section of the bill would decrease the appraisal cap for Texas homes from 10% to 5%. The second proposal is to increase the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000. City officials aren’t excited about either proposal because they think they will restrict local governments’ ability to raise funds.