Budget Surplus
The Frozen Texas Budget Path to Eliminating Property Taxes
An Overview Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s 3-Step Plan to Eliminate All Property Taxes While Texas has done a better job at keeping spending and taxes lower than many other states, thereby supporting a more robust business tax climate and more…
Why Property Taxes Are Immoral: Examining the Impact on Private Property
Property taxes are a contentious issue for many people, with some (mostly local government officials) arguing that they are an important source of funding for government services. In contrast, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) and many Texas taxpayers argue that…
Taxpayer Champion Seeks to Put Texas on a Path to Property Tax Elimination
Shortly after the 88th Legislative Session began, Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) filed legislation seeking to put Texas on a path to eliminating the property tax. Cain has been a Taxpayer Champion in every session he has served,…
Are We Really Getting $15 Billion in Property Tax Relief?
Recently, the House and Senate released their versions of the appropriation bill. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 respectively lay out the biennial budget for the 2024-2025 biennium. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has already highlighted that $15 billion in…
It’s Simple: Bust the Spending Limit to Provide Taxpayers Relief
For years, fiscal watchdog organizations, including ours, worked to secure an additional spending limit or guardrail on the state appropriations process to prevent lawmakers from continuing the trend of expanding government at a rate faster than the population growth it…
TFR Statement on Appropriation Bills
Today, both the Texas House and Senate have released their budgets. Both the House and Senate appropriation bills provide $15B for property tax relief, with $12B to compress Maintenance & Operations rates by 7.75% and $3B to increase the homestead…
They Are Right, Texas Has a Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity
On Monday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his long-awaited Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) ahead of the 88th Legislative Session, which begins today. The BRE is an estimate of the revenue that the State of Texas expects to receive through the…
TFR Statement on the Growing Budget Surplus
On Monday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his long-awaited Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) ahead of the 88th Legislative Session, which begins Tuesday. One key takeaway from Hegar’s announcement, outside of the estimate lawmakers can spend, was that the historic budget…
Patrick’s Confusing Property Tax Relief Position
In a recent interview with Spectrum News 1, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick discussed a myriad of topics ahead of the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, including his thoughts on the prospects for property tax relief. The takeaway? He seemingly supports…
Phelan’s Plans for $27B Surplus Don’t Include Property Tax Relief
On Thursday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan addressed the Transportation Advocacy Group in Houston, speaking on transportation and infrastructure issues, among other items. In the course of his address, he indicated he has other plans for the projected nearly $27…
Property Tax Bills Filed in Large Numbers, a Good Sign for Taxpayers
On Monday, lawmakers in both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate began the process of prefiling legislation ahead of the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, and hundreds of bills have already been filed. 2023 will be a contentious year…
The Importance of Political Activism in Fiscal Policy
In the past year, conservatives have seen a lot of political activism in reaction to the Biden administration’s failures. We have also seen backlash from social norms moving away from traditional values. For instance, we have seen conservatives become politically…
Senate Committee on Local Government Meets on Important Taxpayer Items
This week, the Senate Committee on Local Government met to deal with a list of issues and charges, some of which involved property taxes, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and appraisal reform. In many ways, this was the Senate version of the charges…
Abbott Draws Line in the Sand on Budget Surplus Use for Property Tax Relief
On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott reportedly opined on the projected budget surplus and its partial use for the purposes of providing a property tax cut. “Texas is sitting on a record budget surplus of $27 billion… Because this…
Polling Suggests Most Texans Want True Property Tax Relief
This week, the Defend Texas Liberty PAC released polling that suggested a majority of Texans, from both major political parties, support using a majority of the projected budget surplus to lower their property tax burdens. Polling Results Among several…