AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) — Talk to a Texas homeowner; no matter where they live, one thing could be in common.
“Property tax owners need relief,” Ronnie Kirkwood said. “Property taxes are way too high. They’ve been way too high for a long time.”
“Their property taxes are high, and what are you going to do? It is what it is,” Brittney Hughley said.
This week, a group of lawmakers learned what it would take to eliminate property taxes. About $80 billion in property taxes are collected.
The state uses that money for schools, infrastructure, and other projects. To replace the property taxes, the Texas Taxpayers and Researchers Association said the state’s sales tax figure would have to more than double by more than 20%.
“Any proposal to raise sales taxes outside of doing so indirectly by removing some targeted exemptions is another policy that’s dead on arrival this session,” Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said.
Jones added that while lawmakers may not eliminate property taxes, reducing them will be a priority this upcoming session. Jones said you may not have to worry about a rising sales tax.
Instead, he said a push to bring casinos could be the answer.
“That provides a revenue source that presently isn’t on stream that would provide revenue in perpetuity that could fund property tax relief not just for one or two years or three or four years but for decades,” Jones said.
The Tax Foundation said Texas has the sixth highest property tax rates in the country. Last year, $82 billion were collected. The state collected half of that amount at $45 billion a decade ago.
Experts said rising property prices have dramatically increased revenue, which would make it hard to eliminate. Relief, though, is a common theme among homeowners we talked to.
“Think about all the homeowners out there and the regular person and the economy – how it affects everybody right now,” Hughley said.
“Let’s lower them some more,” Kirkwood said. “That’s what we need to do.”
It appears gambling could be something Texans get behind. Earlier this year, the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundationfound nearly 60% of Texans support resort-style casinos.
It’s a figure political experts said will be on lawmakers’ minds when they meet next year to discuss property tax relief.
