It's actually worse. They fund on attendance but the school has to staff for enrollment.

They budget for this though. Our district is better than most but attendance is typically 92-94%

You're right. Good catch.

LOYAL AG said:

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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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Because you're only looking at half of the equation. The side of the equation you're looking at, the appraisal, is determined BEFORE the taxing entity even votes on their next years budget.

So the PRIMARY driver hasn't even been determined when your appraisal is set. Sure go protest and you'll get a few hundred back.

You say: Taxes = Tax Rate * Appraisal

The actual equation is... Budgets / Appraisals = Rate

My point is that while everyone is distracted by the card in the mail with their appraisal, every LOCAL tax board is voting on their next budget. Once that budget is set, it doesn't matter the appraisals, the rate will be set to generate the revenue.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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LOYAL AG said:

---

AustinScubaAg said:

---

LOYAL AG said:

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Because you're only looking at half of the equation. The side of the equation you're looking at, the appraisal, is determined BEFORE the taxing entity even votes on their next years budget.

So the PRIMARY driver hasn't even been determined when your appraisal is set. Sure go protest and you'll get a few hundred back.

You say: Taxes = Tax Rate * Appraisal

The actual equation is... Budgets / Appraisals = Rate

My point is that while everyone is distracted by the card in the mail with their appraisal, every LOCAL tax board is voting on their next budget. Once that budget is set, it doesn't matter the appraisals, the rate will be set to generate the revenue.

---

Ok I guess I need to explain why this is an incomplete answer and why bonds make a huge difference.

The tax rate is actually set two separate piece the operations budget and the debt service.

The operations budget portion is capped to 3% per year. The operations tax rate limitations is the only portion shielded by this cap.

The debt service rate is not shielded. In fact state law mandates that this part of the tax rate must cover all of the debt service required. Even if the appraisals do not go up this rate will go up if districts keep taking on more debt. So it is not you appraisal but the bonds that keep forcing property taxes up.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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It's actually worse. They fund on attendance but the school has to staff for enrollment.

They budget for this though. Our district is better than most but attendance is typically 92-94%

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Interesting. Didn't know this.

They could easily reduce property tax by giving another cent of the 8.25 to cities. But they never offer it. Cost of building roads and water infrastructure has increased like crazy the last decade while the states fill up the rainy day fund and demand local governments don't increase revenue. But they don't mind passing new laws every session to make it more expensive and less efficient to operate local governments.

Martin Cash said:

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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.

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Confusing statement. The state increases the exemption and the entities increase their rates to offset. How are we getting relief again?

YouBet said:

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ABattJudd said:

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Here in Florida, we have a ballot measure in November that would raise the homestead exemption from $50k to $250k next year, then up to $500k by 2030 (excluding school taxes)

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Have seen that. How are the loss in tax receipts going to be made up? I believe I read hotel taxes and other avenues...basically non-Floridians would pay for it? That's a bold strategy.

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Tennessee has no income tax and minuscule property taxes.

The difference is almost exclusively made up through tourism related taxes/fees.

Granted they have Nashville, the Smoky mountains, Graceland, etc....

4 said:

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YouBet said:

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ABattJudd said:

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Here in Florida, we have a ballot measure in November that would raise the homestead exemption from $50k to $250k next year, then up to $500k by 2030 (excluding school taxes)

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Have seen that. How are the loss in tax receipts going to be made up? I believe I read hotel taxes and other avenues...basically non-Floridians would pay for it? That's a bold strategy.

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Tennessee has no income tax and minuscule property taxes.

The difference is almost exclusively made up through tourism related taxes/fees.

Granted they have Nashville, the Smoky mountains, Graceland, etc....

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Yes, but that's apples and bananas. You can't compare TN to TX.

There are more people in DFW alone than the entire state of TN.

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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He could deploy the National Guard to a few cities and order them to launch an attack against several county tax offices. All it would take is a few simultaneous assaults and the rest of the other counties would back off. Doubt he does this though, he's kind of a pushover.

Hardcore Greg said:

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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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He could deploy the National Guard to a few cities and order them to launch an attack against several county tax offices. All it would take is a few and the rest would back off. Doubt he does this though, he's kind of a pushover.

---

This post brought to you by...

Drugs. Lots and lots of drugs

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Hardcore Greg said:

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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.

---

He could deploy the National Guard to a few cities and order them to launch an attack against several county tax offices. All it would take is a few and the rest would back off. Doubt he does this though, he's kind of a pushover.

---

This post brought to you by...

Drugs. Lots and lots of drugs

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It's these new age gummies bro.

The problem with saying school property taxes are simply a "local taxing issue" is that Texas school finance doesn't work that way. The Texas Constitution makes public education a state responsibility, but the state created a system where that obligation is funded through a combination of state money and local property taxes.

Over time, the state has increasingly shifted that burden onto local property owners. The Comptroller's property value study pressures CADs to keep taxable values at state-determined market levels, and the school finance formula then uses that local property wealth to determine how much state funding a district receives. As local values and collections rise, state aid can fall. If a district has more property wealth than the formula allows, we get Robin Hood/recapture, where locally collected M&O dollars actually leave the district.

That's also why school bonds are different. Bond taxes stay local to pay for facilities and debt approved by local voters; they aren't treated like excess M&O revenue under recapture. So in a property-wealthy district, the choice can effectively become: collect taxes that reduce state aid or potentially get sent elsewhere, or approve a bond and put those local dollars into facilities that benefit your own kids and community.

You can absolutely argue that a particular bond is unnecessary or too expensive. But pretending Texas school taxation is simply a local school board problem ignores how completely screwed up the state's school-finance system actually is.

Hardcore Greg said:

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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.

---

He could deploy the National Guard to a few cities and order them to launch an attack against several county tax offices. All it would take is a few simultaneous assaults and the rest of the other counties would back off. Doubt he does this though, he's kind of a pushover.

---

That escalated quickly.

This is a hard problem to solve when so many people don't even k ow what they are talking about. Or they define the solution as so far away that it can't reasonably be achieved.

In the last several sessions the legislature (then voters) have increased the homestead exemption, added appraisal limitations, increased the business personal property exemptions, added restrictions to entities on how they raise taxes (and how they calculate rates so funds aren't hidden), and bought down school taxes through compression of their tax rates.

In fact, State a senator Bettencourt, recently released an analysis showing the following:

Quote:

---

According to the data:
(LINK: https://senate.texas.gov/members/d07/uploads/FINAL-SLGC-Sept-1st-Slide-Deck-with-graphics.pdf)

• 39.23% of 6.14 million homesteads statewide pay $0 ISD tax.
• 25% of 3.72 million general homesteads pay $0 ISD tax, about 949k homes.
• Almost 61% of 2.34 million Over 65 and disabled homesteads pay $0 ISD tax, 1.449 million homes.
• Statewide average General Homestead ISD bills decreased from $1,037 to $896, down 13.57% in ONE YEAR.
• Average Over 65 and disabled ISD bills dropped 32.72 % statewide, too!
• Total reported Comptroller ISD levies fell from $41.668 billion in 2024 to $41.65 billion in 2025.
• 234 counties, 92% of Texas counties, have half or more of their Over 65 & disabled homesteads paying $0 ISD tax.

---

What you should be more concerned about is how businesses are gaming the system so hard that hundreds of millions of dollars come off the rolls for entities every year, shifting the burden to homeowners under 65. If that scam stopped, you could see meaningful change. But that won't happen. Our politicians need you to be angry about an issue you don't fully understand, so you'll vote for their little catch-line election slogans.

AGHouston11 said:

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Like many taxes people never really see them because they are buried. If everyone at the end of the year had to write checks for taxes it would be more obvious how bad this has become.

Instead it's just a line on their mortgage payment or they never see it with a rent payment.

It's so ridiculous for example seeing people who have to downsize as they get older just to be able to afford their taxes.

---

I pay outside of escrow simply bc I'm a 1099 comp situation and they are big but very (especially right now) volatile and irregular.

I share that only to say stroking the yearly prop tax checks is the absolute worst. So much so that I have waited until Jan 30th every single year I've owned a home (2017)…. Because "F the man". It's become a standard at this point. Just pisses you off when you get the bill. Holiday spending. Everytime you see it outsiding, I just think "Nope. Dealing with that **** later…"

Martin Cash said:

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TXAGBQ76 said:

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That's bs

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Brilliant and very precise response.

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The article clearly states school taxes not property taxes.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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LOYAL AG said:

---

AustinScubaAg said:

---

LOYAL AG said:

---

ts5641 said:

---

Texas12&0 said:

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Because you're only looking at half of the equation. The side of the equation you're looking at, the appraisal, is determined BEFORE the taxing entity even votes on their next years budget.

So the PRIMARY driver hasn't even been determined when your appraisal is set. Sure go protest and you'll get a few hundred back.

You say: Taxes = Tax Rate * Appraisal

The actual equation is... Budgets / Appraisals = Rate

My point is that while everyone is distracted by the card in the mail with their appraisal, every LOCAL tax board is voting on their next budget. Once that budget is set, it doesn't matter the appraisals, the rate will be set to generate the revenue.

---

You're way oversimplifying it. The local entities are given an estimate of appraised value and new property on the rolls for the year. It's not exact, but they are not completely blind in knowing about how much appraised value they are going to get and thus what the tax rate needs to be. That's how the no new revenue rate is set.

Same here. One of the main reasons I moved out of Texas was due to the outrageous property taxes on our ranch.

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!

---

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.

---

I did not know about this, but we have no kids and are definitely going to do this once I turn 65! Thanks!!!!

This thread is fascinating because there are about 5-6 different takes on how Texas property taxes work and every take sounds totally legit and the poster well informed, but they all cant be true.

So how do we know who is correct? It's a conundrum.

The debate is interesting but I'll add….I'm over 65 and pay a BOATLOAD of money every year to Kerrville ISD…doesn't matter the value is "frozen".. some above claiming over 65 not paying property tax are FOS

KerrAg76 said:

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The debate is interesting but I'll add….I'm over 65 and pay a BOATLOAD of money every year to Kerrville ISD…doesn't matter the value is "frozen".. some above claiming over 65 not paying property tax are FOS

---

Yeah, being retired (assuming you are) in Texas is not for the feint of heart when it comes to owning a home.

We moved out of state, actually upgraded our home, and cut our housing costs by more than half in doing so.

There are other tradeoffs you have to factor when doing this, but housing costs in Texas are bonkers once you see it from the outside looking in.

Greener Acres said:

---

This is a hard problem to solve when so many people don't even k ow what they are talking about. Or they define the solution as so far away that it can't reasonably be achieved.

In the last several sessions the legislature (then voters) have increased the homestead exemption, added appraisal limitations, increased the business personal property exemptions, added restrictions to entities on how they raise taxes (and how they calculate rates so funds aren't hidden), and bought down school taxes through compression of their tax rates.

In fact, State a senator Bettencourt, recently released an analysis showing the following:

Quote:

---

According to the data:
(LINK: https://senate.texas.gov/members/d07/uploads/FINAL-SLGC-Sept-1st-Slide-Deck-with-graphics.pdf)

• 39.23% of 6.14 million homesteads statewide pay $0 ISD tax.
• 25% of 3.72 million general homesteads pay $0 ISD tax, about 949k homes.
• Almost 61% of 2.34 million Over 65 and disabled homesteads pay $0 ISD tax, 1.449 million homes.
• Statewide average General Homestead ISD bills decreased from $1,037 to $896, down 13.57% in ONE YEAR.
• Average Over 65 and disabled ISD bills dropped 32.72 % statewide, too!
• Total reported Comptroller ISD levies fell from $41.668 billion in 2024 to $41.65 billion in 2025.
• 234 counties, 92% of Texas counties, have half or more of their Over 65 & disabled homesteads paying $0 ISD tax.

---

What you should be more concerned about is how businesses are gaming the system so hard that hundreds of millions of dollars come off the rolls for entities every year, shifting the burden to homeowners under 65. If that scam stopped, you could see meaningful change. But that won't happen. Our politicians need you to be angry about an issue you don't fully understand, so you'll vote for their little catch-line election slogans.

---

Nitpicking here....
The bold part... Consumers of all ages ultimately pay business tax
The Italicized part... 100%

The stats from Texas Senate are fascinating. I had no idea there were that many people already not paying any property taxes.

61% of >65 are paying $0 for non-ISD portion and 39% of them are paying $0 for ISD portion. Those are really high numbers. Considering where exemptions fall at up to $200k for >65 that tells you these are way smaller homes and/or homes not in high demand urban areas.

For all ages and primary home, I also wonder how many people just aren't taking advantage of the Homestead Exemption in the first place out of sheer ignorance.

MouthBQ98 said:

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This is local taxes and local spending.

Texas actually needs to give proper funding to txDOT. Some of our highways are badly behind in needed upgrades. Some of our FM and ranch roads are in horrid condition

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Certainly wouldn't hurt my feelings if they sped up their work on 71 to finish removing the last of the stop lights between Bastrop and Austin. With the pace of development out here, they are going to need to move faster than they are right now.

Martin Cash said:

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Every tax exemption that hits a ballot passes by at least 80%.

40% of home owners in Texas pay zero property tax. Over 60% of senior citizens pay zero property tax.

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I don't know a single person that pays zero property tax. I must know the wrong 60%.

Gunny456 said:

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Same here. One of the main reasons I moved out of Texas was due to the outrageous property taxes on our ranch.

---

What wasn't it exempt?

Burdizzo said:

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Martin Cash said:

---

Every tax exemption that hits a ballot passes by at least 80%.

40% of home owners in Texas pay zero property tax. Over 60% of senior citizens pay zero property tax.

---

I don't know a single person that pays zero property tax. I must know the wrong 60%.

---

Where do you live? Look at stats above I put down. Most of these people are going to be living in small homes well outside urban areas. If you live in the city, you likely won't know anyone like this.

I'm picturing all of the small dump homes I see on the side of the road in East Texas when I go back out that way. Whole lotta of those people are paying nothing in property tax which now clues me into how they can even afford to live there.

I try and think of demographics and areas outside of my suburban bubble when I math these things in my head.

I mostly think about every small town you drive through once you get 30 miles outside the main metro areas in Texas.

These days, I feel like many of those have outsized senior citizen populations. No one young generally moves to those areas. And the olds that are there have likely been there for a long time.

I imagine, for example, a little 1800sqft ranch in… Franklin, Texas, or Coleman, TX costs maybe $150k. Maybe 200.

And for an older person with homestead, they may have paid 80k for that.

Those are the types of scenarios where I could see 0 property tax. Then I think… that's 60% of senior citizens in the state?

lol. We were thinking the same way

I would like to see an example of someone paying zero property tax.

LOYAL AG said:

---

ts5641 said:

---

Texas12&0 said:

---

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.

---

Take the homestead exemption up to $500K or heck, $1M. This effectively eliminates property taxes for the vast majority of homeowners.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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lol. We were thinking the same way

---

Exactly what you wrote!

Ducks4brkfast said:

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I would like to see an example of someone paying zero property tax.

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See ChoppinD's post and mine above. Those are the people.