Dr. Lynn Stucky, Texas State Representative
As a Texas State Representative, my main goal has been to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars by promoting transparency, accountability, and taxpayer-friendly changes to the state’s property tax code. Recently, the Texas legislature passed an $18 billion relief package, pending voter approval, which includes:
• Increasing homestead exemptions from $40,000 to $100,000.
• Lowering local school tax rates by about 10 cents through compression.
• Establishing a temporary non-homestead exemption for small businesses and rental properties.
• Eliminating or significantly reducing the Franchise Tax on small businesses.
• Creating three new elected positions on local appraisal review boards.
These changes represent a significant cut for taxpayers, but it is not the end of my journey that started in 2019.
As a Texas House Appropriations Committee member, I have overseen consecutive balanced budgets within Constitutional spending limits while prioritizing future savings. I have strongly advocated for property tax reforms that offer relief and transparency to taxpayers.
Since Texas relies on property appraisal assessments and portions of sales taxes for funding due to the absence of state or local income taxes, I have pushed for reforms that limit the growth of homestead property values, provide more substantial exemptions for seniors and disabled individuals, reduce public school property tax rates through compression, and ensure fairness in appraisal assessments.
While the legislature has made significant strides in capping the growth of local government and public school revenue, appraisal reforms remain a challenge due to the complexity of the tax code. The ongoing debate centers on whether to implement appraisal caps for all real estate properties or only for homesteads.
Despite the recent disappointment in reaching a compromise on property tax reduction during the legislative session, I have succeeded in delivering meaningful changes to the Texas Property Tax Code, including revenue caps for local governments (SB 2, 2019), the school tax compression initiative (HB 3, 2019), and disaster relief for property owners (HB 492, 2019).
In subsequent sessions, we continued to offer taxpayers relief through a grievance process at the county appraisal district (SB 879, 2021), expanded the grievance process with increased duties for the taxpayer liaison officer (HB 1285, 2023), and provided limited binding arbitration to ensure procedural compliance (HB 4101, 2023).
My commitment to advancing tax reform and pursuing property tax relief for all Texans remains unwavering. I will continue to focus on transparency, accountability, appraisal reform, appraisal review board training, and promoting equal and uniform procedures.
Working alongside my fellow legislators, we will continue creating meaningful and lasting reforms in the Texas Property Tax Code to benefit the entire state. The journey towards fair and responsible taxation continues.