Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 5-Point Plan to Cut Property Taxes

Addressing Texas Property Tax Affordability

• 💡 Property taxes are identified as a major affordability challenge for Texans, particularly impacting housing costs.
• 🎯 Despite previous efforts to reduce property taxes, local Texas jurisdictions have reportedly increased them further.

Proposed Property Tax Reforms

• 💰 The state of Texas does not impose property taxes; they are levied at the local level, necessitating local-level solutions.
• 🚫 A core proposal is to end out-of-control spending by local jurisdictions, implementing state-level constitutional limits on spending (population growth plus inflation) for all property taxing authorities.
• 🗳️ Property tax increases should only occur if voted on by the public, requiring two-thirds approval.
• 🏘️ A rate rollback mechanism is proposed, allowing 15% of residents to petition for a property tax rate reduction to be placed on the ballot.

Reforming Property Appraisals and School Taxes

• 📈 Skyrocketing appraisals are a significant concern, leading to fear of unaffordability and displacement.
• 🗓️ Appraisals should occur only once every 5 years, down from current annual occurrences.
• 📉 The annual appraisal increase limit should be lowered from 10% to no more than 3%.
• 🏫 A constitutional amendment is proposed to abolish school district property taxes entirely, with the state taking responsibility for fully funding schools.

Education Freedom and Other Initiatives

• 📚 The governor highlighted recent legislative achievements including education freedom, empowering parents, and increasing school funding by over $8 billion.
• 👨‍🏫 Significant teacher pay raises, exceeding $4 billion, were also enacted.
• 🚫 Policies banning DEI in public schools and ensuring no boys and girls sports in Texas were signed into law.
• 🚀 The plan aims to make Texas number one in educating children through school choice, funding increases, teacher pay raises, and curriculum reform.

Grassroots Support and Call to Action

• 🤝 Americans for Prosperity, a large policy and grassroots organization, is championing these reforms, emphasizing property rights and low taxes.
• 🗣️ The organization has engaged with citizens across Texas, confirming that rising property taxes are a significant barrier to affordability.
• 📢 A call to action urges support for Governor Abbott's five-point plan to slash property taxes in Texas.