Bill Passes House, Senate Requiring $200/Year Fee From EV Drivers

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Texas electric vehicle drivers could soon be required to pay an annual $200 fee to register their cars. 

The state legislature last

 Thursday passed Senate Bill 505 with unanimous support, sending the bill to Gov. Gregg Abbott's desk for his signature, which would make it law in Texas.

Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols, who sponsored the legislation, said an additional electric vehicle fee is necessary because EV drivers don't pay gas taxes when they fuel their vehicles. And they are increasing in popularity on Texas roads.

(Full story HERE
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House Speaker Phelan Clashes With Lt. Gov. Patrick Over Property Tax Cut Plan

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House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the two top Republicans in the Texas Legislature, have dug in their heels on how to reduce property owners’ tax burden — with dueling proposals on how to get it done and a path to a potential compromise unclear.

Patrick wants to raise the state’s homestead exemption — the dollar amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed — on school district property taxes, with an additional boost for seniors. Phelan favors tightening the state’s “appraisal cap” on how much the value of a homeowner’s main residence taxed by school districts can rise each year. Each says the other’s proposal wouldn’t cut taxes meaningfully.

Patrick has been forceful in his opposition to Phelan’s appraisal cap proposal and drew a line in the sand this week, vowing not to compromise with the House on the idea.

(Full story HERE.)
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State Senators Unveil Property Tax Reduction Plan

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Texas Senate Republicans unveiled their plan to lower property taxes Tuesday, touting a $16.5 billion package they estimate will save the average homeowner nearly $800 on their tax bills for the next two years.

Senate Bill 3 raises the homestead exemption to $70,000. That exemption, the amount of your primary home’s value that is not taxed, is now $40,000. All 31 senators are joint authors of this proposal. SB 3 also triples the homestead exemptions for Texans who are disabled or over 65 to $30,000.

(Full story HERE.)
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Diapers, Tampons Wouldn't Be Taxed Under Austin Democrat's Bill

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At Texas grocery stores, basic food products and several medications are not taxed. 

The sales tax exemptions would be expanded to include baby and menstrual products by a bill filed Thursday by state Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin).

The idea has begun to take hold in Europe. Last September, a 2020 law excepting diapers and menstrual products from taxes came into effect in Scotland.

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas Lawmakers Eye Surplus For Tax Rebate, Edu Spending

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Texas ended up with a $30 billion budget surplus this year. How that extra money will be spent will be a big topic when the Texas Legislature meets in a couple of weeks. Top Republicans have already planned big tax rebates, but do have some education spending in mind.

“When you have this kind of money, you have to give it back to the taxpayers,” said Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in an address on the surplus.

(Full story HERE.)
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Beto Attacks Abbott Over "#AbbottTax" Increases On utility Bills

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Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke is calling out Gov. Greg Abbott once more - saying in a Twitter video that the governor is leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for fixing the state’s energy grid.

“Many of you are already seeing rising utility bills,” O’Rourke says. “In fact, the average Texas household, by the end of this winter, will see an increase in their utility bills of between $20 and $50 per month going forward.”

On Saturday morning, Texas Democrats had the hashtag #AbbottTax trending on Twitter for Texas users.

For Democrats, last year's failure of the electric grid in Texas following record low temperatures and a massive ice storm, remains one of the few wedge issues they hope to use to pry Abbott out of the governor's mansion next November.

Republicans have responded to attacks that "nothing" has been done to address the problems of the grid by pointing to a series of reforms to the electric grid and electric grid management past by the legislature in the past year.

(Full story here.)
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Taxpayer Group Sues Round Rock ISD Over Tax Rate Hike Vote

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The Travis County Taxpayers Union is suing the Round Rock Independent School District in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit comes after a few disruptive school board meetings, including one on Sept. 14 that ended with two arrests. That’s the same meeting where board members approved a new tax rate.

In the lawsuit, the union claims RRISD didn’t have enough trustees to vote on a new, higher rate, saying they tried to circumnavigate the Texas tax code.

(Full story here.)
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Senate Bill Would Let Lakeside Properties To Secede From Austin

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A bill filed in the State Senate would allow hundreds of Lake Austin shoreline properties to disannex or "secede" from the City of Austin. 

State Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) said she filed Senate Bill 659 because the Lake Austin properties – which had a property tax exemption granted to them in 1986 but repealed in 2019 by the Austin City Council – were not receiving City services. Those lakefront properties are now being charged property taxes from the City of Austin for the first time.

(Full story here.)

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Legislator Proposes Freeze On Home Repos For Delinquent Property Taxes

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State Rep. Terry Wilson (R - Marble Falls) is proposing a bill this legislative session to freeze seizures of a person's primary home for delinquent property taxes.

The bill, House Joint Resolution 43, proposes a constitutional amendment providing that, "a residence homestead is not subject to seizure or sale for delinquent ad valorem taxes."

If passed, it would add language to Texas law that states that, "A residence homestead is not subject to seizure or sale for the payment of delinquent taxes or penalties. The Legislature by general law may define residence homestead for purposes of this subsection."

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Austin Mayor Adler, Gov. Abbott, Spar Over Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

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Preparing for a contentious legislative session when state lawmakers return to the Texas Capitol in January, Austin city leaders are defending the use of taxpayer-funded lobbyists to achieve and defend agenda goals while Republican leaders fight to end the practice.

“Everybody should have the ability, as effectively as they can, to advocate for their positions and make sure the legislators know what’s true and what’s not true,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler told KXAN. 

Unsurprisingly, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott disagrees. Writing on Twitter, "Austin - don’t even try to defend taxpayer-funded lobbying.  It is indefensible that you tax residents to get money that you use to hire lobbyists to support legislation to allow you to tax even more. "

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