Texas legislators continue to focus on property tax relief in second special session at Capitol

AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) -On Tuesday, state lawmakers will head back to the Capitol to continue their second special session, which is focused on providing property tax relief for Texans.

Back in June, Gov. Greg Abbott called the second special session solely to come up with a solution to address property taxes.

“Unless and until the House and Senate agree on a different proposal to provide property tax cuts, I will continue to call for lasting property tax cuts through rate reductions and working toward eliminating the school property tax in Texas,” Abbott said in a statement.

According to data from websites like Wallet Hub, Smart Assets, and Tax Shark, property taxes in Texas are among the seventh highest in the nation, exceeding the national average by nearly fifty percent.

That equates to the average homeowner in Texas paying an estimated $3,800 in property taxes annually.

While lawmakers like (R) District 12 Representative Kyle Kacal agree that taxpayers need some type of relief, getting them all on the same page has been a challenge. However, Kacal says combating high property taxes is a top priority, and things are looking optimistic this second go-around.

“Property taxes are way out of reach for most people that own homes,” said Kacal. “We have a large budget surplus, and the people deserve to get their property tax relief.”

In the House, lawmakers recently passed their bill in committee.

The House tax bill focuses on compressing the maintenance and operations portion of a school property tax.

Homeowners will see financial relief in the House version, but only for two years. The Senate version also eliminates the franchise tax for more than 60,000 small businesses.

Kacal says optimism exists among Texas House members regarding the bill’s progress and a quick resolution.

“I think we’re a week and a half, two weeks into special session number two, concerning property tax. You know, we’re taking a different route this time. I think the Senate has sent over some bills. They’ve been referred to the House, and we have gavelled out today until Tuesday at 2:00 PM. I think calendars will meet sometime between now and then, and bills should be on the floor, maybe late next week or the following weekend, hopefully, that we can come to a consensus on getting the people some property tax relief,” said Kacal.

“On a bright note, the speaker and the lieutenant governor are speaking. So I think we’ve got some optimistic members of the Texas House looking forward, coming back, and getting this done quickly this July,” Kacal added.

Unlike the first special session that ended with no new laws, Kacal says lawmakers will hit the ground running when they return to Austin on Tuesday.

“The first special session, the governor gave us a very narrow property tax target to hit. So the house perspective was, ‘Give the governor exactly what he wanted,’ and we did and passed that out. The Senate took a little longer to deliberate and wanted to make some changes and do some different property tax relief. You know, the governor gave us just compression. The Senate wanted to add a larger exemption, and that was not in the scope. And so we got through the first 30 days without a property tax bill,” said Kacal.

“So here we are again. I think we’ve got a little bit more room. The hall is not as narrow, and hopefully, the Senate and the House can agree, and the governor will sign this property tax bill that we get to him in the next week or two,” Kacal added.