Contact the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker Phelan to get to work on Property Tax Reform
Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to veto the remaining unsigned legislation from the 88th session if the legislature does not reach a compromise on property tax relief.
June 18 Update: We continue to see Governor Abbott veto bills from the 88th Legislature. Follow this link for the latest list of vetoed bills.
June 16, 2023 | Austin, TX
The House and Senate remain in a stalemate, as the Senate remains in Special Session #1, with the House promptly adjourning after they passed their version of property tax relief.
Governor Abbott has continued to support “compression,” saying on June 9, “Property tax exemptions begin to evaporate after a few years of increase in home valuations. What we need to do is eliminate the school M&O property tax altogether. That’s my plan.”
Maintenance & Operations (M&O) property tax is part of a school district’s tax rate. M&O tax makes up almost half of school property taxes in Texas. Compression is a means to buy down local school property taxes.
On June 12, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick reported that Governor Abbott said he would sign a property tax bill as long as both the House and Senate agreed upon it. The Lt. Governor called on the House to return to session so progress could be made.
But just two days later, Governor Abbott indicated on June 14 at a bill signing that if there is no property tax agreement by June 18, he would begin issuing vetoes of Senate bills. Over 4550 pieces of legislation have been passed, while Governor Abbott signed only 873 of them, having vetoed **5 of the bills.
The Lt. Governor took to Twitter saying that the Governor had threatened to “destroy the work of the entire 88th Legislative Session – hundreds of thousands of hours by lawmakers doing the work the people sent us to do” in order to “get his way” on the property tax issue.
Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi responded by saying, “Regardless of your preference between compression and homestead exemption increase, why would the first time you issue a threat like this be to prevent a homeowner targeted tax cut?”
Texas voters have waited years for promised property tax reform. As the economy tightens and inflation continues to rise, Texans are hurting and property tax reduction would be a welcome relief to the tax payer. The current economic climate behooves our government to stop playing games and come together for meaningful tax relief.
Take Action
1) Contact the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker to urge them to work together to get property tax reform done.
Governor Greg Abbott
(512) 463-2000
Send an email
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick
(512) 463-0001
Send an email
Speaker of the Texas House Dade Phelan
(512) 463-1000
Send an email
2) We also urge you to contact your State Senator and Representative to voice your concerns about much needed property tax relief.
Senator Brandon Creighton (SD 4)
(512) 463-0104 (Austin Office)
(281) 292-4128 (District Office)
Send an email
Senator Lois Kolkhorst (SD 18)
(512) 463-0118 (Austin Office)
(979) 251-7888 (District Office)
Send an email
Senator Paul Bettencourt (SD 7)
(512) 463-0107 (Austin Office)
(713) 464-0282 (District Office)
Send an email
Rep. Cecil Bell (HD 3)
(512) 463-0650 (Austin office)
(281) 259-3700 (District office)
Send an email
Rep. Steve Toth (HD 15)
(512) 463-0797 (Austin office)
(346) 220-0300 (District office)
Send an email
Rep. Will Metcalf (HD 16)
(512) 463-0726 (Austin office)
(936) 539-0068 (District office)
Send an email
Rep. Ernest Bailes (HD 18)
(512) 463-0570 (Austin office)
(936) 628-6687 (District office)
Send an email