Austin, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), as primary author of the record $18 billion dollar Property Tax Relief Plan, with 30 co-authors, SB 2 & SB 3, passed the largest property tax cut in Texas history out of the Texas Senate. After SB 2 & SB 3 were passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Joan Huffman (R-Houston) 14-0, the Texas Senate passed SB 2 & SB 3 unanimously with bipartisan support 31-0. SB 2 & SB 3 have been sent to the Texas House for their consideration. The constitutional amendment for SB 2 & SB 3 has been filed as a House Joint Resolution, HJR 2 by primary author Representative Will Metcalf (R-Conroe).

“What a fantastic package this is! There is one state voting on an $18 billion property tax relief bill and that is the State of Texas!” Senator Bettencourt remarked. “It’s Texas sized Nationally!” He concluded.

(Click on the link below to watch Senator Bettencourt’s statement over the passage of SB 2 and SB 3)

Senate Bill 2 contains:

• Increase Texas homestead exemption to $100k on 5.72 million Texas homeowner’s ISD property tax bills, effective on this year’s property tax bill.
• $7 billion worth of MCR compression of ISD M&O property tax rate cuts of 23.8% on 10.7 cents.
• Non-homesteaded real property valued at $5 million and under will receive a 20% circuit-breaker on appraised value increases as a 3-year pilot project.
• Three county citizens will be elected county-wide to each County Appraisal Districts (CAD board) of directors in non-partisan positions. The CAD board of directors will now select Appraisal Review Board (ARB) members, in each county of 75k population or greater.
• School districts are held harmless on these changes with $642 million in additional I&S monies.

Senate Bill 3 contains:

• Double the franchise tax exemption to 2.47 million from 1.235 resulting in an estimated 67k businesses no longer paying a franchise tax. Represents 40% of those that pay this tax.
• Eliminate a “nuisance-tax” for 1.7 million taxpayers filing the no-tax-due forms for franchise taxes.

The bills have moved to the Texas House where Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) has referred them to the House Ways and Means Committee, chairman Morgan Meyers (R-Dallas).

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