New Texas property law gives elderly and disabled residents tax break
Asher Notheis
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Elderly and disabled residents of the Lone Star State can enter the new year enjoying a property tax break given by a new law.
Senate Bill 12, which went into effect at the start of 2023, will limit the amount of money in property taxes that school districts can impose on residents who are either at least 65 or are disabled. The bill already passed both the House and the Senate during the 2021 legislative session and was penned by Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, according to CBS Austin.
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“So basically, what Senate Bill 12 did is that it unfreezes the frozen value and then lowers it every year, that we have what’s called compression in school tax rates or school tax rates come down year after year. So, the over 65 will get the benefit of compression,” Bettencourt said.
Most of the public has supported the bill ahead of its implementation, according to Bettencourt, who claimed that 87% of the public approves of the new law.
The new law addresses an issue in legislation that was passed in 2019, in which “some” caps were implemented on property taxes. However, the elderly and disabled were not covered in these exemptions, according to education attorney Catherine Michael.
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In the event that districts are greatly affected by these tax breaks, such as a district made up mostly of elderly residents, the district in question will still be able to apply to the state to receive additional funding.
“The change is not going to be dramatic for school districts,” Michael argued.