Jay Dean, Texas House District 7
Texas is known as one of the lowest tax States in America. It is one big reason residents from high tax states are moving to Texas by the thousands.
Our low taxes have also attracted some of America’s top job creators.Texas recently surpassed New York state for most Fortune 500 Headquarters in America. So, it is no surprise that Texas has created more new jobs than anyother state.California is almost 50% bigger than Texas, but we created more jobs.
If you are a young person starting a career or if you are older and want to change jobs, Texas is a great place to live.
With all that success, should we rest on our laurels? No! This year I plan to be part of doubling down on Texas’s low tax reputation. While local governments set and collect property taxes, not the State, the State can buy down property tax reductions and set limits to curtail future property tax increases.
I fully support the currently proposed record $15 billion cut to your local property taxes. And with a $33 billion surplus in the State budget, due to our strong economy, I think we could cut even more. It will be the biggest tax cut ever passed ever by any state. And the best thing is: due to the economic strength of Texas, we can cut your local property taxes while still spending where we need to, like making investments in education.
How big is a $15 billion tax cut? That is more than the entire state budget of 15 states.
This tax cut ensures that we continue to be the economic engine of America and provide much-needed relief to our homeowners.
When I first was elected to the Texas House, cutting property taxes was my dream. As a multi-session member of the Appropriations Committee, I learned the inner workings to help make this dream a reality. Each year, we took steps toward lowering property taxes. Now, with Texas so economically strong, we can take this giant leap.
Last session, we raised the homestead exemption to $40,000 – a record high. That means the first $40,000 of your home’s value is not taxable. To do that, we needed the approval of the entire state. Voters like you overwhelmingly passed it. That is the quickest and easiest way to lower property taxes. Now I would like your support to raise the homestead exemption once again.
I am also concerned about the localtax appraisals. We see massive swings in the value of homes. Why should home values raise your taxes so much?
All too often, as appraisals shoot up, this hits people on fixed incomes and young families hardest. When your home is taxed so much, it feels like you are paying rent and do not own the home at all. That is why I have filed two bills to rein in local appraisals. The first was HB 745, which will impose a 5% homestead cap. HD 746 will impose a 10% property appraised value cap. This puts a solid limit on how fast your home value can go up.
Last session, we capped the rollback rate. That means if a local government wants to increase their revenue by more than a few percentage points, voters have to be ok with it.
That law has given us the breathing room to now address the serious problem of appraisals.
What I am trying to accomplish is to create permanent, lasting property tax relief.
If you feel your property taxes are too high, it is not your imagination. When I got elected,Texas had the 3rd highest property taxes in America. We have now dropped to 7th. My goal is to keep pushing property taxes down. The American Dream is to own your own home and property taxes are the number one barrier to achieving it. This session, we will make that Dream a reality again.