Dallas City Wire

Vance Ginn, chief economist for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, issued a June 13 newsletter outlining the importance of reducing property taxes for all Texans.

Ginn noted a previous research piece that stated property tax levies in the state grew faster than the preferred rate of growth from 2016 to 2020.

“No matter how you slice it, Texans everywhere need property tax relief,” Ginn explained in the newsletter. “Whether rich or poor, urban or rural, homeowner or renter, Texans face an affordability crisis that can be helped with property tax relief. And they want it now."

Citing a report by the Austin Journal, Ginn also pointed out that a proposal could cut property taxes statewide by as much as 80%, with the state’s budget surplus being used to reduce maintenance and operations taxes by next year, when they would be permanently eliminated. 

Renae Eze, press secretary for Gov. Greg Abbott, told the Austin Journal that the governor endorses the plan to tap the surplus to ultimately ease the tax burden for residents in Plano and across Texas. 

“He [Abbott] strongly supports using the state surplus to reduce the amount of property taxes owed and will work with the Legislature in the next session to do it in an efficient way that will ensure it endures for years to come, rather than as a one-time buy down,” Eze told the publication. “And under his Taxpayer Bill of Rights, Gov. Abbott will continue working to deliver substantial and lasting property tax cuts.” 

Texas Public Policy Foundation noted on its website that from 2016 to 2020, Dallas’ property tax levy jumped 56.5% to $1.3 billion, up from $863.9 million. The report also noted that combined inflation and population grew 6.4% during that period, a difference of 50.2% between the two indexes.