Texas homeowners are getting hammered by property taxes, and everyone knows it. We’re sixth in the nation for the highest burdens, with bills that keep climbing faster than our paychecks. That’s why Governor Abbott pushed for real relief in the special sessions, calling for laws to actually reduce the property tax burden and impose spending limits on local governments.
Senate Bill 10, by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) aimed to drop the voter-approval tax rate multiplier from 3.5% to 2.5% for big cities and counties. The idea? Force officials to get voter approval for bigger hikes, slowing down those automatic increases that hit us every year.
But when the legislation came to the House, State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) tacked on Amendment 3. On paper, it looks like a win for taxpayers: it slashes that multiplier even further, down to just 1%. Except it’s not. Buried in the fine print is a massive carve-out for “public safety expenditures” that undercuts property tax relief efforts.
Here’s how it works: The amendment adds a new section to the Tax Code, letting local governments adjust their baseline “no-new-revenue” maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate upward if “public safety” costs go up. These expenses often make up a substantial portion of a taxing entity’s budget, sometimes half or more. These expenses tend to rise annually due to everything from wage hikes to new gear.
Under Patterson’s tweak, those increases get added to the baseline before the 1% cap kicks in. Result? Taxes can jump way beyond 1%, or even 2.5%, without the voters having a chance to weigh in at the ballot box.
This isn’t just hypothetical; it’s a recipe for abuse. Local governments could potentially shuffle more spending into the “public safety” bucket to dodge the cap entirely.
We’ve seen this before: despite property tax relief efforts from the Legislature over the last six years, property taxes have shot up 37%, adding $24 billion to the tab. Patterson’s amendment doesn’t fix that; it perpetuates it, eroding voter oversight.
Additionally, by exempting “essentials” like public safety, it opens the door to more carve-outs. Before you know it, the whole system’s riddled with exceptions, letting bureaucracies grow unchecked. Public safety is crucial, and a core function of government; it’s one of the main reasons why we pay taxes in the first place. But that’s the key: local governments should be prioritizing public safety in their budgets, not using that core function as cover to raise property tax revenue elsewhere.
Texans deserve better. We need strong taxpayer protections, like a 0% multiplier forcing votes on every increase—and strict spending limits across the board. No loopholes, no excuses. If lawmakers let Patterson’s amendment stand, it’s not reform; it’s business as usual, with families footing the bill.
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