The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed what Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling "the largest property tax cut in the history of the world."
Senate Bill 26 (SB26), by Houston Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, offers $18 billion in property tax relief. Similar to Senate Bill 1, the bill increases the homestead exemption to $100,000, but it puts more money toward compressing the school tax rate. It also doubles the franchise tax exemption to $2.47 million, which Bettencourt says would eliminate the tax for 67,000 small to medium-sized businesses.
The Senate and House of Representatives remain at a standstill over property tax relief – specifically, the Senate wants to increase the homestead exemption while the House plan solely reduces the school tax rate. Patrick said state senators worked over the weekend to bring together the best ideas from both chambers to create SB 26. The bill was filed, voted out of committee and passed unanimously on the Senate floor Tuesday.