Bettencourt unanimously passes HJR 2 out of the Texas Senate
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) sponsored House Joint Resolution 2 authored by Representative Will Metcalf (R-Conroe), the Constitutional Amendment for Senator Bettencourt’s $18 billion property tax relief bills, SB 2 & SB 3.
HJR 2 passed the entire Senate unanimously, with bipartisan support 31-0. Then the House of Representatives passed the bills SB 2 133-4, and SB 3 131-5, with a two-thirds majority, and sent them to Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) next for his signature review.“It’s a ‘Texas-sized’ $18 billion dollar property tax reduction! But wait, we’re not done yet! It’s another $300 million dollars for doubling the franchise tax exemption – so it’s truly a record,” remarked Senator Bettencourt.
HJR 2, by Rep. Metcalf passed the House 132-5, will put the following on the November 7, 2023, ballot for Texas voters to approve.
- Increase Texas homestead exemption to $100,000 on 5.72 million Texas homeowner’s ISD property tax bills, effective on this year’s property tax bill.
- Approve a “catch-up” for over-65 and disabled for the $15,000 homestead exemption increase adjustment from May 2022 state-wide election.
- Approve non-homesteaded real property valued at $5 million and under will receive a 20% circuit-breaker on appraised value increases as a 3-year pilot project.
- The constitutional circuit breaker will sunset Dec. 31, 2026.
- Three county citizens will be elected county-wide to each County Appraisal Districts (CAD board) of directors in non-partisan positions. The CAD board of directors will now select Appraisal Review Board (ARB) members, in each county of 75,000 population or greater.
- Make sure property tax relief does not count towards constitutional spending limit.
The final bill of the $18 billion dollars of property tax reduction, HJR 2, just passed the Senate 31-0.
“So, let the people vote on November 7, 2023!” Senator Bettencourt concluded.
