SAN ANTONIO – The new proposal introduced in the Texas Legislature to reduce property taxes could represent significant savings for homeowners, depending on the county in which they live.
Under the proposal, each owner in Texas who occupies their home will get a $100,000 homestead exemption through the Homestead extension.
Currently this benefit is $40,000. The so-called “Homestead Exemption” is a tax exemption that applies to a person’s main residence and exempts a part of the value of the home from taxes.
“Let’s use as an example a house that has an actual market value of $350,000… if the governor signs the measure, a person saves about $997 a year which translates to $83 a month and that’s just one example of a really affordable house said Joel Miranda, a real estate agent in central Texas.
Miranda indicated that, depending on the value of the house, the savings that the owner of the residence would have changes. For example, a person with a property for $400,000 or $500,000 would see savings of thousands of dollars.
But this all depends on the county where you live. Miranda explained that he recommends homeowners do their math if the measure becomes law.
HOW HOMESTEAD SAVINGS ARE CALCULATED
To calculate how much the “Homestead Exemption” would save, Miranda indicates that homeowners should enter the website of the county in which they reside.
The real estate agent explained that you should look up your property by address and from there check how much the county is valuing the residence. What the county values you subtract $40,000. Then you multiply the result with the county taxes.
“It seems to me that it is a good measure, it seems to me that it is fair for a person who has made an effort to buy a house, who wants to put down roots here, who wants to stay here and it seems good to give him relief. The last two years in real estate have been tough for a lot of people,” Miranda said.
According to Texas lawmakers, the measure seeks $18 billion in relief for homeowners in the state.
For his part, Governor Greg Abbott indicated that he “looks forward” for the measure to reach his desk.
“I promised during my campaign that the state would return to property taxpayers at least half of the largest budget surplus we’ve ever had. Today’s agreement between the House and Senate is a step toward fulfilling that promise. I look forward to this legislation reaching my desk, so I can sign into law the largest property tax cut in Texas history,” Abbott’s statement read.
