AUSTIN, Texas – Mary Selan came to Austin from Plano for a girls’ weekend. He is in the capital the same week leaders reached an agreement on a property tax relief plan.
“I’m thrilled that there are finally people in Austin who are helping us,” she said.
He has been in Plano for 30 years and 10 of those in his home. Selan says she has a fixed income because she is retired. Even though her property tax rate is frozen because she’s over 65, she says the $4,500 ticket she was hit last time.
“It’s always something you don’t expect, and you wonder where you’re going to get the funds to pay for it,” he said. “And you take it out of an account you really don’t want to touch.”
Selan says it would be nice to have some kind of discount for people who no longer have children in school, since a lot of property tax funds go toward paying for the costs of maintaining and operating public schools.
“But of course, these taxes are used in the right way,” he said. “Of course you want better schools. Who wouldn’t?”
🚨 TRIBES WIN! I introduced the largest property tax abatement bill in Texas history! All residential and commercial real estate taxpayers WIN! All 5.72 million homeowners WIN with an amazing 41.5% average savings of $1,373 year over year! This is a record property tax reduction… pic.twitter.com/pKolTxf0qU
— Team Bettencourt (@TeamBettencourt) July 10, 2023
According to Texas leaders, Selan can expect to keep nearly $3,000 in the bank over the next two years because of this relief package.
“For the roughly 6 million homeowners in Texas who vote at a disproportionate rate compared to non-homeowners, this is a big deal,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “They’re going to see their property exemption go from $40,000 to $100,000. And they’re going to pay about 11 cents less for every $100 of assessed value over the next two years on their property.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, pushed particularly hard to increase the property exemption. He’s excited about the final plan he and House Speaker Dade Phelan have agreed to. The bill passed and Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign it into law soon.
“For the average family living in a home for 25 years, that’s an additional $25,000 in savings over that time,” he told Capital Tonight Monday. “This helps pay for college, a great vacation for retirement, whatever they want to do with the money.”
And with his savings, Selan says he could take another trip down I-35 with his friends.
“I’ve always tried to half save and half spend, so there may be a vacation in my future,” she said with a laugh.
