{"id":87153,"date":"2025-12-13T23:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T23:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/87153\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T23:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T23:55:12","slug":"property-tax-breaks-could-be-extended-to-millions-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/87153\/","title":{"rendered":"Property Tax Breaks Could Be Extended To Millions In Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new proposal in Texas<\/a> could bring down the homestead tax exemption by a decade\u2014lowering property tax bills for those aged between 55 and 65 in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican, unveiled a major new property tax proposal on December 11 called\u00a0Operation Double Nickel, aimed at easing the burden on older homeowners.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/p>\n

Property taxes are a major source of funding<\/a> for local governments in Texas and are collected by counties, cities, school districts, and special districts such as hospital or utility authorities. Unlike many states, Texas does not have a state property tax\u2014all property taxes are set and used at the local level.<\/p>\n

On average, Texas has one of the higher property tax burdens in the country. The effective property tax rate (meaning the amount paid as a percentage of a home\u2019s value) is 1.58 percent, though rates vary widely by location. For a home valued at around $300,000, that translates to an annual property tax bill of about\u00a0$4,790<\/a>\u00a0before any exemptions.<\/p>\n

What To Know<\/p>\n

Under the plan, the age for the school district (ISD) senior homestead tax exemption would drop from 65 to 55. That change would allow Texans to lock in their school property tax values a decade earlier, giving homeowners over 55 more time with stable\u2014and typically lower\u2014tax bills.<\/p>\n

Patrick\u2019s office estimates the proposal would save about 3.3 million homeowners nearly $950 a year, adding up to roughly $16,000 in savings over a 10-year period. The freeze on taxable values would remain in place for as long as homeowners keep their property, offering long-term predictability.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The proposal would also provide broader relief, with benefits extending to all 6.1 million homestead owners statewide, regardless of age, the press release notes.<\/p>\n

The proposal follows Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s own plan<\/a>, which shares the same goal but takes a different approach. Abbott\u2019s proposal calls for limits on local government spending, requiring two-thirds voter approval for any tax increases, and a constitutional amendment to eliminate school property taxes on homesteads.<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/p>\n

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick: “We\u2019re going to take the senior homestead exemption down to 55. That means for an extra 10 years, from age 55 to 65, your values are frozen. You will never again have to worry about rising appraisals for school taxes.”<\/p>\n

Governor Greg Abbott: “Texas homeowners want the abolishment of their school district property taxes. The time has passed to make that a reality. If you own a home in Texas, you should be able to afford to live in that home.”<\/p>\n

What Happens Next<\/p>\n

Patrick presented his proposal to the Texas Legislature and recommended that the proposal be considered during the next legislative session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new proposal in Texas could bring down the homestead tax exemption by a decade\u2014lowering property tax bills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2067,2349,2447,6608,8233,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-87153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-affordability","tag-money","tag-property","tag-property-tax","tag-taxation","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}