Spend Less, Prosper More: Texas Needs Bold Tax Reform, Not Tinkering

Originally published on Substack. 

​Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has released his Six Steps to Overhaul the Property Tax System, promising relief from soaring appraisals and runaway local tax hikes. Here’s the plan posted on X.

It’s a welcome step in the right direction—and a recognition that Texans are tired of renting their own property from government.

But let’s be clear: while Abbott’s plan is progress, it’s not the destination. Texans deserve full ownership, not perpetual relief. If leaders don’t show courage now, Texas risks becoming the next California—spending too much, taxing too much, and delivering too little.

The right path is simple but not easy: spend less, tax less, and let Texans prosper.

The Positives: Where Abbott’s Plan Gets It Right

Here are the biggest strengths of his plan:

1. Local Spending Limits. Limiting local government spending to population growth plus inflation (or 3.5%, whichever is lower) would impose much-needed discipline. This mirrors the Sustainable Budget model that spending restraint is the only sustainable form of tax relief.
   
2. Two-Thirds Voter Approval for Property Tax Increases. Giving taxpayers the power to veto big hikes would protect wallets and restore accountability. It’s a guardrail against local governments that treat taxpayers as endless tax revenue sources.
   
3. Appraisal Predictability. Requiring appraisals only once every five years could reduce red tape and uncertainty for homeowners and businesses.
   
4. Lower Appraisal Caps and Broader Coverage. Reducing the homestead appraisal cap from 10% to 3% and extending it to all property types could slow some growth in tax bills.
   
5. Empowering Voters to Roll Back Taxes. Allowing 15% of local voters to trigger rollback elections gives Texans direct power to check government excess.
   
6. Eliminating School Property Taxes for Homeowners. The boldest part—ending school district property taxes through a constitutional amendment—could mark the beginning of true property ownership if done responsibly.

Together, these reforms acknowledge a truth fiscal conservatives have preached for decades: property taxes are too high because government spends too much.

The Concerns: Caution, Complexity, and the Need for Courage

Still, Gov. Abbott’s proposal doesn’t go far enough. It tinkers with symptoms instead of curing the disease.

• Caps don’t cut spending. Local officials will simply find new ways to spend around them. Without stronger constitutional limits and voter-approved enforcement at the state and local levels, these caps risk becoming ceilings to hit, not boundaries to respect.
  
• Appraisal limits distort markets. Capping appraisals shifts the burden onto others when local governments jack up tax rates to spend more. Capping appraisals also incentivizes people to not sell their property thereby reducing available supply in the market resulting in higher values for new property purchases and making it more difficult for first-time buyers, households with lower income, and others.
  
• “Relief” without reform fades fast. Texans have seen this before—record “relief” packages wiped out by higher appraisals and local rate hikes. Relief without restraint is a sugar high; reform must be permanent.
  
• The endgame is missing. Abbott ran on eliminating property taxes outright in 2022, but this new plan sidesteps that vision.

If Texas settles for tinkering, states like Florida and Tennessee—both leaner and bolder—will leave us behind.
To truly secure prosperity, Texas needs more than a six-step patch. It needs a three-step plan for elimination.

The Three-Step Plan to End Property Taxes

Step 1: A Stronger Constitutional Spending Limit.

Texas currently has five state spending limits—but most are riddled with loopholes. We need one simple, enforceable rule: All state and local government spending must grow slower than population growth plus inflation. Exceeding that limit should require at least a two-thirds supermajority vote. Fiscal responsibility isn’t partisan; it’s arithmetic.

Step 2: Use Surpluses to Buy Down Property Taxes.

Every surplus dollar taken from taxpayers should go toward permanent tax rate compression—not new programs. This surplus buydown model already works at the state level, but has been watered down with bad homestead exemption hikes and excessive spending, and could eliminate school district property taxes within a decade if lawmakers hold the line on spending.

Step 3: Replace Property Taxes with a Budget-Neutral Sales Taxes.

This could be matched to accomplish this quickly for school district M&O taxes, replaced with a broader-based 9% state-local sales tax rate (compared with the 8.25% rate today) that captures final consumption—not production.

Local governments should follow by taking the increased sales tax revenue from the base expansion to reduce their property tax rates then have some combination of a local surplus buydown or other paths to eliminate their property taxes (not the state).

This is the path to eliminating all property taxes and real ownership, not another round of “temporary relief.”

The Economic and Moral Case for Elimination
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Property taxes are fundamentally unjust. They punish investment, discourage homeownership, and treat property not as something you own but something you lease from the state. If you can lose your home for failing to pay, you don’t own it—you’re renting it.

Property taxes also hit the poor hardest. Renters pay through higher rents, workers through lower wages, and entrepreneurs through lost capital. These taxes distort housing markets, drive up costs, and slow growth. More importantly, they violate a moral truth: once you’ve paid for your property, you shouldn’t have to rent it every year.

The solution isn’t more carveouts, exemptions, or political “caps.” It’s sustainable budgeting and a modern, consumption-based tax system designed for the 21st century.

The Moment for Boldness

Governor Abbott’s plan moves the debate in the right direction—but Texas must go further. “Relief” isn’t enough. Texans want ownership. They want simplicity, transparency, and a government that spends less so they can save, invest, and build more. If the governor pushes forward boldly—pairing sustainable budgeting with surplus buydowns and a budget-neutral tax swap (not revenue neutral to emphasize less spending)—Texas could become the model for every other state.

If he stops short, our tax burden will keep creeping upward, our debt will keep rising, and our competitiveness will keep slipping. Texas will keep looking a little more like California and a lot less like the freedom-focused Texas we love.

Spending less must be the rallying cry for every fiscal conservative, policymaker, and taxpayer who wants Texas to lead again. Spend Less, Prosper More isn’t just a motto—it’s the only way to preserve ownership and opportunity for generations to come.
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For more on how Texas and other states can end property taxes and restore true ownership, visit my writings.