TEXAS, USA — Texas voters passed two state propositions on the May 7 ballot which will provide tax relief to some Texan homeowners.
Texas Proposition 1 creates an amendment reducing the property tax limit for elderly and disabled residents, while Texas Proposition 2 creates an amendment to increase the homestead exemption for school district property taxes.
Here’s the text of Proposition 1:
“The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem 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 to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the homestead.”
Voting "yes" on this proposition supports allowing the state legislature to lower the property tax limit on taxes funding public education placed on the homes of disabled or elderly residents. A previous bill was passed in 2019 to provide compression for these taxes, but it didn’t apply to the homes of the elderly or disabled.
Proposition 2 reads as follows:
"The constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000."
As it stands, homeowners can take off $25,000 from the value of their home before school tax rates are levied. With these newly passed propositions, that deduction will increase to $40,000, which could save homeowners about $175 on their yearly property tax bill, lawmakers say.
These propositions passing lower how many property tax dollars go to public schools, but lawmakers say the state will reimburse any lost revenue to school districts so they will not to lose funding.