NW Houston News

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) is taking aim at property taxes as the state could face rate increases of up to 50% this year, but a recent report by the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association reports that it very well could have been even worse.

According to The Texan, appraised property values are expected to increase across the state of Texas by 20% to 50% this year. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is considering approaches for property tax reform in the Texas State Senate and introduced an item that will explore the elimination of the school district maintenance and operations (M&O) rate, which is responsible for the largest portion of Texas property taxes.

School districts account for over half of the local property taxes collected every year, and the amount has been increasing year over year since at least 2017, according to data from the Texas Comptroller, as tweeted by Brad Johnson of the Texan News.

Property taxes are made up of the M&O rate and the Interest and Sinking Rate, and according to the Texan, the former funds more daily and yearly expenditures while the latter is typically used for more capital-intensive projects.

A report published by the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association in April 2022 noted that "Texas property owners need to be prepared for the sticker shock that home shoppers have been experiencing the past year," but found that 2019 reforms reduced property taxes by a collective $6 billion across the state.

Multiple parties have different ideas of what should be done to mitigate property taxes. According to The Texan, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is seeking a compressed rate, but does not go so far as to scrap the M&O rate entirely. Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) believes that property tax reform must take place through education code reform, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation believes that portions of the state budget surplus can be used to replace M&O funding.

Property tax in most independent school districts (ISD) outstripped the preferred rate of growth from 2016-2020. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD's property tax grew 16.1% from $667.3 million to $774.8 million from 2016 to 2020, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The combined population and inflation for the city grew by 10.9% during that time, resulting in growth of 5.2% faster than the preferred rate of growth.

Katy ISD and Conroe ISD were the only two school districts in Texas that kept their property tax growth rate below the preferred rate of growth.