With not one but two laws that will impact property tax bills passed by the Texas legislature in 2019, homeowners may be anticipating a more affordable property tax bill this October. Unfortunately, these new property tax laws won’t be in effect until next year’s property tax season, but there is some hope of more reasonable property tax increases on the horizon for Texas homeowners.
Senate Bill 2
The new Senate Bill 2 was passed for 2020, and it says that counties and cities with 30,000 or more residents will need to allow homeowners to vote on property tax rates that increase more than 3.5% and school districts will be limited to 2.5% increases. This may not necessarily translate into lower property tax bills, but it will certainly slow the increase in annual taxes. Unfortunately, that bill won’t take effect until next year.
House Bill 3
House Bill 3 is another bill passed in 2019 that will take effect next year and help control the rapid increase in annual property tax rates. This one addresses the biggest tax driver for most Texas residents – school district taxes. For most homeowners, school district taxes make up about 60% of their total property tax bill. House Bill 3 will have an impact on property tax bills for many homeowners, leading to a decrease of about .08 cents per $100 of property value. This is about $240 for a home valued at $300,000. It may not seem like much, but it’s a start.
Your 2019 Tax Bill
Both of these bills will help keep Texas property tax bills at a more affordable rate for many homeowners. Unfortunately, this year your taxing authorities may be taking advantage of having one last year to increase taxes as much as 8% without needing to present their budget for voter approval. In fact, the majority of officials have already adopted 2019 tax rates above the “effective” rate. When taxing authorities approve an effective tax rate, they are saying that they do not need to increase property taxes on existing properties because growth and new home and commercial real estate taxes will make up any difference in funding from one year to the next. In short, since the majority of taxing districts are approving 2019 property tax rates above the effective rate, your 2019 property tax bill will likely be higher than the one you received in 2018.
How Home Tax Solutions Can Help
There is some hope for lower property tax bills on the horizon for Texas homeowners with Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 3 taking effect in 2020. In the meantime, if you’re struggling to pay your 2019 tax bill, the Home Tax Solutions team may be able to help. We offer low interest, flexible property tax loans to help you split the cost of your annual home tax bill into smaller payments. Contact us in one of our five locations across Texas to find out more. Our knowledgeable loan specialists offer affordable property tax loans for residents of 254 Texas counties. Getting started is easy. Simply fill out our online form, and one of our local property tax loan specialists will be in touch soon.
