Texas Property Tax Reform 2023

Property tax reform is almost done!  After months of wrangling between the Texas House and the Texas Senate, an agreement has finally been reached.  While the details are still unknown as I record this, the main points have been released.  First, the homestead exemption for school taxes will rise from $40,000 to $100,000.  Second, the state is using $12 billion for tax compression – meaning the state will send that money to school districts and the districts will lower their tax rates.  There is a component for investment and commercial property valued under $5 million – it appears to be a 20% cap, but I need to find out more because that seems pretty useless. And by the way, that's just a pilot program.  Further, there will now be elected positions on appraisal boards and I am super excited about this because right now the foxes run the hen house.  Finally, there’s a component that raises the point at which small businesses pay the franchise tax.