Property taxes in Texas | Dallas News Live

Texas homeowners face the seventh highest property tax rate in the whole country, according to the Tax Foundation. As you know, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa largely campaigned on lowering those taxes. Another one of her pledges is already in a bill filed in Austin. That is a one-time $1,500 check for Texas households paid with the state's Rainy Day Fund. Now here to discuss this further, the hot button issue of taxes, is Colton Pace. He is the CEO and Ownwell, it's an Austin-based company, and we want to talk with him a little bit about what this $1,500 check would mean for a struggling family to cover rent or mortgage. Colton. Hi, Casey. Thanks for having me. On the $1,500 check, there's a lot she has to do with her partners and lawmakers to make sure that that can actually happen to use that rainy day fund. But $1,500 is three months of property taxes in North Texas. And so that could alleviate a lot of the pain that have been felt over the last couple of years across rising property taxes. So, obviously, this proposal would draw up about $17 billion from the state's reserves. What do you think that your group supports using that money in terms of checks? And then if they do, what do you want lawmakers to weigh before they vote on it? Yeah, Ownwell doesn't take a specific position on these checks. We exist to help provide fairness, equity, and clarity to the property tax process and make sure every homeowner feels like they have someone in their corner to help represent them through protests and making sure their exemptions are applied fairly. And so we're excited to see what ideas come to fruition this next legislative session. We're confident that... Governor-elect Hinojosa and the new lawmakers will consider lots of different options and hopefully provide some relief to homeowners in whatever way it comes. What are some of those options? What are some ideas that could be put out onto the table to consider to help get some people relief? Yeah, I think the two things I'm hearing from her campaign are one, increasing homestead exemptions. That gives money directly to primary residents that are in the community. Relief right to people who are in those communities helping and attending those schools there. And then I also hear about limits on potential spending in geographies, continuing to see school districts and cities spending more and more. And if we can limit those, that will limit increases in the future. And then lastly, thinking more about reducing tax breaks for corporations. I've heard a lot of this from her campaign. Thinking about rolling back some of the benefits that have been given to data centers or large projects and making them pay property taxes as well, or more property taxes. So property taxes affect every single Texan. And I think that sometimes people who rent and don't own their homes think that it doesn't apply to them. But if the complex that you live in is owned by a company and that company has to pay more money to the state of Texas for property taxes, they don't just- Do that for free. They don't eat that cost. They pass it down to tenants in the form of higher rents and other fees. So this really is across the board, affects everyone. Yeah, I totally agree. I think reducing property taxes on multifamily apartment complexes and homes is good for everybody. It will take longer to get to the renters, right? They reduce it, the bill gets enacted the next year, your bills lower the next year, and then you can see that hopefully go into market rents over time. It's not an immediate reduction like a homestead exemption would. And so you'll see faster relief with continuing to increase homestead exemptions. But I agree that reducing multifamily And property taxes will eventually get to renters as well. So can you kind of walk me through and break down that cost analysis, if you will? You just said that three months or so of property taxes equates to be what that check might cost. So in general, on average, how much does a property tax add to a typical mortgage payment a month in Texas? $450 roughly. In the Dallas area, it's likely a little bit higher, closer to $500. Wow. And I imagine that when we talk about costs that high, first-time homebuyers are really having a difficult time. I mean, to be able to come up with the down payment, but then also you look at the daunting property tax. So this is really impacting people from being able to buy their first homes. Yeah, if you think about the median or average home value, especially in major cities, it's going to turn people to, right, like $500 a month is roughly 10% of your overall expenses. And so you'd probably be looking at a 10% cheaper home. Or does that mean moving further out to the suburbs to find something you can afford or continuing to rent until you have the savings to purchase a more expensive home? But you're absolutely right. Absolutely should. Taking into consideration the property taxes you're about to pay before you sign up for a 30-year mortgage. Colton, I have a little less than a minute left. I'm curious if the state cuts school property taxes, how would that revenue be made up for Then, would you think? Yeah, I saw the poll you guys were having. There's a constant debate of can we increase the sales tax to reduce property taxes? I think resounding no from most people. And so trying to figure out if we can continue to have a surplus, we can continue to buy down property taxes. But we're in a good environment right now where we do have a surplus. So we've got to think about the future and continue to support our local schools and public education. And so it's hard to find a replacement. And I hope our lawmakers and Elect Gina Hinojosa will take that into consideration. What do they say? There are two things in life you can't avoid, death and taxes, right? Colton Pace, the CEO and co-founder of OwnWell. Thank you so much for taking time out and joining the show today. Thanks for having me, Casey.