The 88th Texas Legislative Session represents the largest property tax relief in the state’s history and aligns with the continuous plea from Texans for tax reform and relief. Conflicting bills from the house and senate addressed critical items to include but not limited to, further relief for homeowners through increased exemptions, appraisal caps on all non-homestead real property valued $5 million or less, and tax rate compression.

The Texas Senate and House could not reach an agreement at the conclusion of the 88th regular session compelling Governor Greg Abbott to call two special sessions to reach resolution. On August 9th, 2023, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 2 delivering $18 billion in property tax cuts, making it the largest tax relief package in Texas history. Although Senate Bill 2 received approval from the Governor, in Texas, any new law that impacts the state budget must have the consent of voters through constitutional amendments.

On November 7th, 2023, Texas voters considered 14 constitutional amendments on the ballot with the largest support going to Proposition 4’s $18 billion property tax cut. Proposition 4 unofficially received an 83% voter approval of the more than 2 million votes.

The passing of Proposition 4 marks a major victory for the nearly 6 million Texas homeowners resulting in a $1,200 property tax reduction for the average priced home. Key components of the property tax relief plan include:

• SB 2 – Increasing the Texas Homestead Exemption from $40,000 to $100,000
• SB 2 – Reducing the overall school tax rate a minimum of $0.107
• SB 2 – Placing a 20% CAP on taxable value increase for properties valued $5 million or less
• HB 5 – Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation ACT (JETI) – Replaces the long standing and controversial Texas Economic Development Act. The JETI Act allows Texas to stay competitive with other states in attracting new companies to Texas leading to job creation and further economic investments into the state.

Texans can expect an immediate relief on their 2023 property tax bills generated by the County Assessor Collector.