The Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform and Relief recently held public hearings in Houston and Plano on Sept. 29 and Oct. 3 respectively. The committee has been travelling the state listening to local officials and members of the public deliberating on ways to improve the property tax system. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said the fight against increasing property taxes will again be a top priority for him in the 2017 session. HillCo will continue to monitor these discussions and bill filing, which begins on November 14th, in order to provide you with insight on where the legislative body may be heading in the 85th Session.
Chairman Paul Bettencourt laid out potential legislative action the committee is considering including automatic rollback elections for all taxing jurisdictions, adjusting the deadline calendar for appraisal districts and taxing entities to make the process run more smoothly, and appraisal review board reforms which could include increased member training among other provisions. Members of the public shared their ideas including reducing the rollback rate for city tax increases, requiring all tax ratification elections to be held on uniform election dates, and doing away with the property tax altogether.
Attached is a HillCo Client Report covering the hearings. It may be instructive to see the comments of the Senators which have been highlighted in the attached report.
