FORT WORTH, TX (1080 KRLD) - Governor Greg Abbott says lawmakers in Austin are making progress on bills dealing with economic development. Abbott spoke to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
"Fort Worth is a huge economic success," he said. "In fact, 2022 was a banner year for Fort Worth."
Abbott said Fort Worth has a record number of jobs and record number of people employed. Abbott said the city's unemployment rate is 3.4%; the state's unemployment rate is 3.9%.
In Austin, Abbott says lawmakers are now starting to finalize budget plans that would include property tax cuts. He says the House and Senate started with plans to cut property taxes by $15 billion. Abbott says the current Senate plan would cut property taxes by $16 billion; the House plan would cut property taxes $17 billion.
"Maybe we just need more time. It may get to $18 or $19 or $20 billion. Who knows?" Abbott said during his speech. "The bottom line is you will see and feel a reduction in the cost associated with property taxes in Texas."
Tuesday, the Texas Senate announced three bills Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said would lead to $16.5 billion in tax cuts.
"We have this incredible blessing of the surplus like we've never seen before," he said. "We're going to manage that not just for this session, not just for the next session and the next session, but looking out where will the legislature and Texas be in 15 to 20 years?"
The Texas Senate plan is broken into three bills.
SB 3 would increase the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 and increase the exemption for people 65 and older from school district taxes from $10,000 to $40,000. Details can be found here.
SB 4 would buy down school property taxes by $5.83 billion in addition to ongoing rate reductions passed two years ago. The full text of the bill can be found at here.
SB 5 would increase exemptions on business personal property from 2.5% to 20% and reduce inventory taxes by 20%. Details are available here.
The Texas House plan would cut school district property taxes by 28% and expand a cap on how much more a property can be valued at each year. The plan there would lower the cap from a 10% increase to 5%. The cap would also apply to apartment complexes and some businesses.
Texas voters approved the 10% cap in 1997. Voters would have to approve a lower cap if the measure passes.
Details about the Texas House's budget plan can be found here.
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