FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Contact: Paul Bettencourt

713-554-9208; info@paulbettencourt.com

Senator Elect Bettencourt Files First Property Tax Relief Bill

SB 182 to cut Rollback Tax Rates in Half, forcing tax rate cuts
HOUSTON Senator-elect Paul Bettencourt (SD 7) filed his 1st bill of the 84th session.
SB 182 provides property tax relief to hard-pressed homeowners and business owners in
the State of Texas by cutting the property tax rollback rate in half.
The problem is simple. As property values go up, tax rates rarely go down. The result is
that property tax bills can soar by nearly 10% or more a year, which is at least twice as
fast as most Texans paychecks, said Paul Bettencourt. We have seen record increases
in property tax appraisals across the state due to Texas job creation engine. Tax rolls are
up 10% or more in cities like Houston, Dallas, and Austin, as well as for many taxing
jurisdictions around the state in economic boom towns like Midland-Odessa or the Eagle
Ford Shale area from the Mexican border south of San Antonio all the way to Brazos
County.
The property tax relief this bill would provide can be demonstrated using the state capital
as an example. The median home value in Austin is $349,900 (per Zillow). Residents
with only the basic homestead exemptions pay a tax rate of $2.38 per $100 of value, or an
average of $7,768 in taxes. If those rates were based on a 4% rollback rate instead of 8%,
they would fall to $2.33 per $100, reducing the tax burden to $7,575, a cut of $193. In
Austin, in just one year, the average home value increased by 14.2% from 2013 to 2014
and similar increases occurred in other Texas cities and counties.
Letting taxpayers keep nearly $200 per homeowner is just the start of property tax relief
in Texas. If property appraisals go up, tax rates should come down; otherwise property
tax bills will continue to go through the roof, Bettencourt stated. In this example, a 5
penny tax rate cut means that homeowners and business owners would both get the same
tax relief because the taxing jurisdictions would have to keep their rates below the new,
lower rollback tax rate limit.
SB 182 will mandate a rollback tax rate election if city, county, or special district
property tax revenues grow by more than 4% from the prior year, excluding new
construction. Currently Texas law forces taxpayers to petition to have an election to
lower excessive tax rates.
It is time to recognize the obvious that property tax bills cannot continue to grow twice
as fast as Texans paychecks, Bettencourt concluded. Senator-elect Bettencourt expects
to file additional property tax relief bills in the coming weeks.
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