Vance Ginn Economics
  • Home
  • About
  • CV
  • Media
  • Blog/Show Notes
  • Podcast/Speeches
  • Publications
  • Teaching
    • ECON 2301-Princ of Macro
    • ECON 2302-Princ of Micro
    • ECON 3352-Energy Eco
  • Home
  • About
  • CV
  • Media
  • Blog/Show Notes
  • Podcast/Speeches
  • Publications
  • Teaching
    • ECON 2301-Princ of Macro
    • ECON 2302-Princ of Micro
    • ECON 3352-Energy Eco

News: TX Senators Announce Property Tax Cut Plan

3/17/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
​​Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, along with several senators, announced a new bill package this week designed to reduce property taxes through several different methods.

Sens. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), Bob Hall (R-Rockwall), Joan Huffman (R-Houston), and Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) joined Patrick in a press conference on March 14.

The package included three bills that would offer a combined estimated $16.5 billion in property tax relief.

Lt. Gov. Patrick opened the press conference and invited Sen. Bettencourt to walk through the proposals, saying, “No one knows more about property taxes.”

“What we have is tremendously good news for Texas taxpayers today,” Bettencourt said.

“It’s important to know that we’re touching every taxpayer, every homeowner, every business owner, with needed tax relief,” Bettencourt claimed. “We’re spending the money as wisely as we can to get the maximum tax relief possible — and this plan has eye-popping numbers.”

Senate Bill 3, filed by Bettencourt, would increase the homestead exemption for property taxes from $40,000 to $70,000 and allow seniors to deduct an additional $30,000. Bettencourt claimed the increases would save homeowners $800 to $1,000 over the course of the next two years.

Bettencourt was also responsible for SB 4, which would contribute another $5.38 billion to buy down or “compress” school district property taxes, as explained in the bill analysis.

The final bill in the property tax reduction package was SB 5, filed by Parker. The proposal would increase the “business personal property exemption from a $2,500 de minimis exemption to a $25,000 universal exemption.”

Additionally, Parker’s bill would “provide eligible taxable entities a credit equal to 20% of the amount of ad valorem taxes paid during the period on which the report is based.”

In the press conference, Parker claimed the bill would deliver $1.5 billion of relief to business owners.

All of these measures were included in Lt. Gov. Patrick’s legislative priorities, as reported by The Dallas Express. Several of the property tax reduction measures have already garnered bipartisan support in the Senate.

“We’ve never had $16.5 billion dollars to throw at property tax relief, and that is a record number, and it is well spent, and I believe it will be well received by the citizens and taxpayers of the great state of Texas,” noted Bettencourt.

Patrick also explained, “The real key to save Texans’ taxes is to limit the size of government. That’s the key.”

However, the proposals have disappointed some economic policy experts and taxpayer advocacy groups, who had hoped for different approaches to the tax burden.

Vance Ginn, the president of Ginn Economic Consulting, directed The Dallas Express to a statement where he claimed, “[T]he Senate’s overly-complicated property tax package (#SB4, #SB4, #SB5) of $16.5B won’t put any property taxes on a path to elimination so Texans will continue to not have their right to own property.”

Instead, Ginn urged that Texas needs to “[s]pend less and use surpluses to reduce school M&O [maintenance and operations] property taxes by state and other property taxes by local [governments] until all are ZERO so Texans can finally have the right to own their property and ultimately stop renting and start owning.”

Similarly, Noah Betz, the executive director at the Huffines Liberty Foundation, explained to The Dallas Express, “We strongly believe this package falls short of being real property tax relief.”

A statement from former Texas Senator Don Huffines added that “[a] major shortcoming of the Senate bills is that they do nothing to limit future increases in rates and levies by local governments, including school districts.”

Tim Hardin, the president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, told The Dallas Express, “although we support any property tax relief we do not feel as though the Senate package goes far enough. … We would like to see property taxes be put on a path towards elimination.”

Originally published at Dallas Express. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Vance Ginn, Ph.D.
    Chief Economist
    ​TPPF
    ​#LetPeopleProsper

    Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting, LLC. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and senior fellow at Young Americans for Liberty and other institutions. He previously served as the associate director for economic policy of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, 2019-20.

    Follow him on Twitter: @vanceginn

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    January 2015
    November 2013
    September 2013
    May 2013
    February 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    January 2012
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    Biden
    Book Reviews
    Budgets
    Capitalism
    Carbon Tax
    Commentary
    Congress
    COVID
    Debt
    Economic Freedom
    Economic Prosperity
    Economy
    Education
    Energy Markets
    Fed
    Free Trade
    Ginn Economic Brief
    Healthcare
    Housing
    Immigration
    Inflation
    Interview
    Jobs Report
    Let People Prosper
    Licensing
    Louisiana
    Margin Tax
    Medicaid
    Minimum Wage
    News
    Occupational Licensing
    Opportunity Project
    Pensions
    Podcast
    Poverty
    Property Taxes
    RAB
    Regulation
    Research
    Rules
    School Choice
    Socialism
    Social Media
    Spending Limits
    Taxes
    Tax Foundation
    Technology
    Testimony
    Texas
    This Week's Economy
    Transparency
    Video
    White House

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly