The Comptroller released the following message in Property Tax Today:
“In January, my office released the Biennial Revenue Estimate, showing the state is projected to have approximately $112.5 billion in revenue available for general purpose spending during the 2022-23 biennium.
The revenue estimate represents a 0.4 percent decrease from funds available for the 2020-21 biennium. This decline is a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused revenue collections to fall well short of what was expected when the Texas Legislature approved the 2020-21 budget. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, there is a wide range of possible outcomes for state revenue through the end of fiscal 2023, with the possibility of revenue falling short of this forecast but also a chance revenue could exceed it, perhaps substantially.
The Legislature will again face some difficult choices to balance the budget. While savings from agency spending cuts and federal funding could help erase the projected shortfall for this biennium, a substantial supplemental appropriations bill could increase it, thereby reducing revenue available for the next biennium.
This said, the state of the economy remains extremely fluid, and events since January — including a devastating winter storm, a massive federal stimulus bill and significant improvements in the pace and efficiency of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout — may prompt an adjustment to the BRE in the near future.
The Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) had an eventful first quarter. In addition to offering information to the Texas Legislature on property tax matters, PTAD certified the property value study (PVS) preliminary findings to the commissioner of education; released the final 2020 Methods and Assistance Program (MAP) reports; and published the 2020 Appraisal Review Board (ARB) Survey results.”