You don't get redder than Montgomery County. We've a budget deficit and are raising property tax rates to cover

LOL at property tax relief.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nearly-40-of-texas-homeowners-pay-no-school-property-taxes-senate-analysis-finds/ar-AA2bnjC4?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Read it yourself.

YouBet said:

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Ducks4brkfast said:

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Give more to school districts..

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Uh, they already get 50% of your property taxes and mostly suck at educating kids. Why do they need more?

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Not for higher salaries, but for more teachers.

I'd be for that, and I'm sure teachers would too.

YouBet said:

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Ducks4brkfast said:

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Give more to school districts..

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Uh, they already get 50% of your property taxes and mostly suck at educating kids. Why do they need more?

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I don't share that experience. Our school district is awesome and my three kids are excelling. Perhaps you have a different experience with your kids

No Spin Ag said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

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Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

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Abbott made sure to say very clearly that property taxes are increased by local governments. He could not have been saying more clearly, "Yes, I know property taxes have increased greatly since I've been governor, but hey don't look at me, I'm just as innocent in all of this as you. It's your local people who you need to be upset at. That's why you should still vote for me."

I mean, he's just the governor after all. It's not like he's got a conservative state House or Senate that he could work with.

Oh wait.

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The one thing clear Abbott has made is the distinction between him and DeSantis

Teacher salary system needs a change. It's need to be a meritocracy. There are great teachers and those people are angels to continue to do the work realizing their pay is ultimately set by a schedule which is influenced by age rather than merit.

Take away Texas oil money and we'd be just as dysfunctional as California. The oil money masks a lot of cracks.

LOYAL AG said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

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Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

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This is simply false. The homestead exemption has gone up 9x since Abbott was elected. Local appraisal districts and public entities have spent more and more and more based on soaring appraisals but the legislature has worked to keep it in check. Now he's talking about eliminating school property taxes. No real indication of how he plans to pay for education but that's a different topic than your assertion that state republicans havent done anything here.

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A great way of saying you have no understanding how property taxed work in Texas. High appraisals do not give locals more tax revenue.

Property taxes go up mainly because locals vote for bonds which means more taxes 99% of the time.

The legislature capped the amount of new revenue to 3% a year. This more than homestead exemption changes is the best thing the legislature can do with the current system to limit property tax increases. Homestead exemptions just shift the burden away from single family homes.

Abbot was 100% correct the state can't control property taxes without changing the whole system.

Martin Cash said:

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nearly-40-of-texas-homeowners-pay-no-school-property-taxes-senate-analysis-finds/ar-AA2bnjC4?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Read it yourself.

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And Patrick wants to lower the senior exemption to 55.

Dan Scott said:

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Take away Texas oil money and we'd be just as dysfunctional as California. The oil money masks a lot of cracks.

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Not something we have to worry about for several lifetimes - unless a Democrat stops Texas from producing oil.

No Spin Ag said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

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Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

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Abbott made sure to say very clearly that property taxes are increased by local governments. He could not have been saying more clearly, "Yes, I know property taxes have increased greatly since I've been governor, but hey don't look at me, I'm just as innocent in all of this as you. It's your local people who you need to be upset at. That's why you should still vote for me."

I mean, he's just the governor after all. It's not like he's got a conservative state House or Senate that he could work with.

Oh wait.

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I thought the constitution of Texas allows for a weak executive and Florida's allows for a strong executive? They meet annually and we don't.

For a board of so called conservatives that claim to promote limited government there site is a lot of advocacy for greater state control over localities.

Crying about what Abbott or the state legislature hasn't done...
Your property taxes are a function of the votes of:
Your county commissioners court
Your school board
Your ESD (Emergency Service District)
Junior college
Sports authority
Hospital district
MUD
And any other LOCAL taxing authority.

Those are the people taxing your property. Those are the people spending your money. You cry to Abbott but when was the last time you went to a school board meeting?

Also... exemptions are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. They just shift the burden to businesses (but by golly but and support local), and landlords/renters

TAMU1990 said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

---

Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

---

Abbott made sure to say very clearly that property taxes are increased by local governments. He could not have been saying more clearly, "Yes, I know property taxes have increased greatly since I've been governor, but hey don't look at me, I'm just as innocent in all of this as you. It's your local people who you need to be upset at. That's why you should still vote for me."

I mean, he's just the governor after all. It's not like he's got a conservative state House or Senate that he could work with.

Oh wait.

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I thought the constitution of Texas allows for a weak executive and Florida's allows for a strong executive? They meet annually and we don't.

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I *think* he was being sarcastic about Abbott actually having a conservative government to work with. He arguably does not.

Burrows capitulated to the Democrats and made them Vice Chairs of every committee in order to get their votes as Speaker of the House. And, specifically, he made a Democrat the chair over the Subcommittee of Property Tax Appraisals. There are only 6 Democrat Chairmen out of 42 Chairmen and that's one of the ones the Dems got.

Hilarious, isn't it.

YouBet said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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I'm over 65. Where do I sign up to pay zero property tax?

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You can file an affidavit with your county appraisal district to defer the taxes until you move or die at an annual 5% interest penalty. If you die while owning the home, the deferred balance plus interest will be taken out of your estate. If your wife is at least 55 when you start this, you can continue deferral after your death if she wants to stay in the house.

If you don't need to or care to pass that onto heirs, you can get away with not paying property taxes until your death. The state will simply get back what you owe from sale proceeds of house and/or your estate if sales proceeds don't cover the balance owed.

So, there you go.

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Well, I'll be a monkeys uncle. Never knew this. Thanks! I'm signing up!

Dan Scott said:

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Take away Texas oil money and we'd be just as dysfunctional as California. The oil money masks a lot of cracks.

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kali has all that high-tech and entertainment industry money that Texas doesn't have, so it would seem that there is something else influencing their dysfunction. (Hint; it starts with "dem" and ends with "ocrats")

YouBet said:

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fc2112 said:

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Property tax reliefe NOW - especially for over 65 on a fixed income. Renting from the state on a home we own!

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See my post above. You don't have to pay taxes if you don't care what happens to your estate after you die.

If we still lived in Texas, my wife and I were going to seriously consider it once we turned 65 for the enormous extra cash flow it would bring per year.

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Yeah, at a 5% interest rate, seems like a bad deal.

agent-maroon said:

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There isn't a state property tax, only local city/county property taxes. Abbott has no control over this.

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The same is true in Florida but Ron DeSantis got proposition 3 on the ballot this November. Admittedly, the Florida GOP (that mostly despises DeSantis) amended the language to pur a poison pill in it but nevertheless, the governor of Florida took action and got a referendum on the ballot.

The age 65 property tax relief is bullcrap. It's another form of an intergenerational subsidy for the olds. Especially ridiculous when the olds who should have way more wealth than younger people ask them to pay the full rate. Just like we tell young people they are not entitled to live where they want if they can't afford it, old aren't either.

YouBet said:

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TAMU1990 said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

---

Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

---

Abbott made sure to say very clearly that property taxes are increased by local governments. He could not have been saying more clearly, "Yes, I know property taxes have increased greatly since I've been governor, but hey don't look at me, I'm just as innocent in all of this as you. It's your local people who you need to be upset at. That's why you should still vote for me."

I mean, he's just the governor after all. It's not like he's got a conservative state House or Senate that he could work with.

Oh wait.

---

I thought the constitution of Texas allows for a weak executive and Florida's allows for a strong executive? They meet annually and we don't.

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I *think* he was being sarcastic about Abbott actually having a conservative government to work with. He arguably does not.

Burrows capitulated to the Democrats and made them Vice Chairs of every committee in order to get their votes as Speaker of the House. And, specifically, he made a Democrat the chair over the Subcommittee of Property Tax Appraisals. There are only 6 Democrat Chairmen out of 42 Chairmen and that's one of the ones the Dems got.

Hilarious, isn't it.

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Sounds like Abbott needs to have a talk with him. Fund a challenger in 2 years if he doesn't clean up his act.

Dan Scott said:

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The age 65 property tax relief is bullcrap. It's another form of an intergenerational subsidy for the olds. Especially ridiculous when the olds who should have way more wealth than younger people ask them to pay the full rate. Just like we tell young people they are not entitled to live where they want if they can't afford it, old aren't either.

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You'll inherit your parents estate and eventually you'll be old too.

fc2112 said:

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YouBet said:

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fc2112 said:

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Property tax reliefe NOW - especially for over 65 on a fixed income. Renting from the state on a home we own!

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See my post above. You don't have to pay taxes if you don't care what happens to your estate after you die.

If we still lived in Texas, my wife and I were going to seriously consider it once we turned 65 for the enormous extra cash flow it would bring per year.

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Yeah, at a 5% interest rate, seems like a bad deal.

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Depends. If you don't plan nor care to leave your estate to anyone, then who cares. You'll be dead.

Or, if your estate is large enough that paying out what you owe for your house after dying doesn't substantially impact your overall estate you plan to leave, then who cares.

Or, if you will need the cash flow while alive to pay for healthcare (which is going to be a major issue going forward), then that's a better use of your money for you while you are alive.

Or, maybe you want to live more while alive and take some vacations and spend time doing fun stuff while you can and that you otherwise couldn't afford to do, then you can possibly do that now if you punt your property taxes until after you die.

Whole lotta reasons this could make sense for people and no one really knows about the option.

That's bs

TXAGBQ76 said:

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That's bs

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Brilliant and very precise response.

School districts don't need more money. They already receive a ton and have proven they can't use it effectively or efficiently. Bad combination.

Best thing for schools would be to start leaving some children behind and kicking others out. Put parental responsibility back on… wait for it… PARENTS.

Being forced to manage little baby junior son of a ***** instead of teaching the rest of the class is problem #1.

We just got property tax relief in the form of a significantly increased homestead exemption. I'm not saying we shouldn't get more relief but those that say we never get any relief are not well informed it seems to me.

halfastros81 said:

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We just got property tax relief in the form of a significantly increased homestead exemption. I'm not saying we shouldn't get more relief but those that say we never get any relief are not well informed it seems to me.

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Bingo. We vote ourselves a $40K increase in HS exemption, and then we're shocked that the ISD has to raise the tax rate to replace the billions they just lost.

The only solution for the ISDs is to starve the beast. Hopefully they can find efficiencies.
If not, we may need to rethink the entire system.

AustinScubaAg said:

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LOYAL AG said:

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ts5641 said:

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Texas12&0 said:

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https://www.kvue.com/article/money/texas-stronger-than-expected-tax-revenue-fiscal-year-2026-comptroller-huffines-says/269-e990204c-7eef-45ba-9b9a-472c369f7880

Rainy day fund is already above its cap. Sales tax revenue up 6.2%. Oil tax up 9%. Overall, up 1.6 billion above forecast.

How about some freaking property tax relief? Abbott needs to put the money where is mouth is.

---

Property tax relief is never happening. Republican politicians in the state love to talk about during elections but nothing will ever happen.

---

This is simply false. The homestead exemption has gone up 9x since Abbott was elected. Local appraisal districts and public entities have spent more and more and more based on soaring appraisals but the legislature has worked to keep it in check. Now he's talking about eliminating school property taxes. No real indication of how he plans to pay for education but that's a different topic than your assertion that state republicans havent done anything here.

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A great way of saying you have no understanding how property taxed work in Texas. High appraisals do not give locals more tax revenue.

Property taxes go up mainly because locals vote for bonds which means more taxes 99% of the time.

The legislature capped the amount of new revenue to 3% a year. This more than homestead exemption changes is the best thing the legislature can do with the current system to limit property tax increases. Homestead exemptions just shift the burden away from single family homes.

Abbot was 100% correct the state can't control property taxes without changing the whole system.

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My tax bill is rate x taxable value which is appraisal minus exemptions. Please inform the audience how appraisals soaring hasn't been a primary driver of tax bills. The legislature has increased my homestead exemption, capped the rate ISD can charge without voter approval and capped the rate of growth of my total bill. Tossing out bonds as if that somehow changes the basic X * Y math is a distraction from the fact that appraisals have grown faster than the legislature can reign in the formula which is why tax bills have doubled along with those appraisals.

So again please inform the audience how what I said in defense of Republicans in the legislature is wrong.

Ozzy Osbourne said:

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The only solution for the ISDs is to starve the beast. Hopefully they can find efficiencies.
If not, we may need to rethink the entire system.

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In the past 25ish years CSISD has gone from 70% spending on classroom instruction to 56% spending on classroom instruction with the offset being administration. That's per their budgets online. The answer here is obvious, there's too many bureaucrats.

Yet the ISDs are laying off teachers. I brought this up with teacher friends and they are convinced (gaslit?) that the admin is bare bones.

Too bad we have a Lt. Governor whose main priorities are THC and what books are in libraries instead saving taxpayers money.

Ozzy Osbourne said:

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The only solution for the ISDs is to starve the beast. Hopefully they can find efficiencies.
If not, we may need to rethink the entire system.

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In urban areas, they are shuttering schools due to population loss. Will they drop school property taxes as a result in those counties?

Highly doubtful but there is opportunity to decrease taxes they won't take.

My MIL, a former city secretary and city manager, always said, "They'll get their number, no matter what you call it or how it gets there."

I asked if that's what she did.

"you're darn right we did."

YouBet said:

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Ozzy Osbourne said:

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The only solution for the ISDs is to starve the beast. Hopefully they can find efficiencies.
If not, we may need to rethink the entire system.

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In urban areas, they are shuttering schools due to population loss. Will they drop school property taxes as a result in those counties?

Highly doubtful but there is opportunity to decrease taxes they won't take.

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In a lot of the urban areas, school districts are already losing money due to Robin Hood. The state is taking the money and using it to fund its education budget, then moving that money to other sources. I'm sure the state doesn't want to lose that money.

At the same time, the state funds on enrollment numbers. Just because there are fewer students doesn't mean the district can stop providing services. And every time the legislature puts a new program or requirement in place, administration and or support staff grows. This year it has been adding police officers or other safety measures at every school.

Texas12&0 said:

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I'm . 65. Where do I sign up to pay zero property tax?

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Me too.