Texas Homeowners Begging for Property Tax Relief as Governor Pushes for Cuts

Texas homeowners are begging Gov. Greg Abbott to help with their bottom line and provide property tax relief.

It’s an issue already on Abbott’s radar as he laid out his plans in his State of the State addressing what he calls an “affordability crisis” in the state.

“That’s especially true as it concerns the affordability of owning a home or renting a home. And one reason for that crisis is because of skyrocketing property taxes,” says Abbott.

Texas property owners pay one of the highest tax rates in the country—with Texans paying an average of $3,872 in property taxes in 2023.

That number is high because the market value of homes in the state has grown by 42% since 2019.

Property tax payment is determined by multiplying the home’s assessed value by the property tax rate. As home values increase, there’s a proportional increase in how much property tax a homeowner pays, regardless of the effective property tax rate in a given county.

It’s also high because, unlike most states, Texas doesn’t collect state income tax and relies largely on property taxes—along with state and local sales taxes—to fund public services.

Public schools are funded largely on property taxes: In 2023, the Texas Legislative Budget Board found that property taxes accounted for around 50% of local school funds.

Texas lawmakers have attempted to mitigate the high property tax rate before. In 2023, legislators passed $12.7 billion in property tax cuts and also sent funding to local school districts. That led to homeowners seeing a 7% decrease in property taxes, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune.

Future funds

Now that the state government has a surplus of $24 billion, lawmakers, including Abbott, are looking for additional property tax cuts. In his public address on Sunday, Abbott said the initial tax cuts didn’t go far enough, and he admonished counties that had used “loopholes” to avoid property tax deductions.

A survey by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs found that around 50% of respondents listed property tax reductions as one of their top three uses for the state’s budget surplus funds.

The proposal was most popular among baby boomers and Gen Xers, who make up the current bulk of Texas homeowners.

“Loopholes that increase your property taxes must be banned,” Abbott said. “No taxing entity should be able to raise your property taxes without a two-thirds approval by voters.”

Abbott named property tax cuts as one of his seven “emergency items.” This designation requires that state legislators take up the issue within the first 60 days of their legislative session.