They still need to pass in the Texas House but three property tax reduction measures have passed the Senate unanimously, Houston State Senator Paul Bettencourt says "this is off-the-charts, incredible property tax relief for millions of Texas homeowners."
The package's most popular provision among the senators is a proposal to raise the state's homestead exemption for school districts. That bill would raise the amount of a home's value that cannot be taxed, the so-called exemption. from $40,000 to $70,000, with an additional $20,000 for seniors.
Senators also passed a bill to require the state to funnel more than $5 billion into public schools, which make up the biggest portion of Texas property tax bills. That's in addition to $5 billion that Senate budget writers have separately proposed for property tax cuts over the next two years.
In exchange, the bill would cut school property tax rates by 7 cents per every $100 in property value.
The Senate proposals now head to the Texas House where lawmakers have a different approach to reducing property owners' tax burden.
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