Organization advocates for property tax relief during Longview panel discussion – here’s what to know

Published 10:56 pm Monday, July 28, 2025

In hopes of “unleashing prosperity and unlocking freedom,” East Texas Republicans and members of the organization Americans for Prosperity discussed property tax reform during a recent event in Longview.

Area Republicans met with members of the nonpartisan organization to kick off the Freedom Unleashed Tour, which aims to educate people about how property taxes work in Texas and how people can advocate for lower taxes. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, took part in the panel discussion July 15 at Jalapeno Tree restaurant in Longview along with Sam Sheetz, legislative and political director for the organization, and Joel Castro, an engagement director with the organization.

Kay Burton, the organization’s director of engagement in East Texas, said the tour’s goal of “unleashing prosperity and unlocking freedom” starts with understanding where and how property taxes are levied: at the local level. The organization is kicking off a grassroots effort to encourage people to get involved in local government.

“Property taxes shackle our citizens,” Burton said. “Our wallets are stretched to the max, and the freedom to direct our tax dollars are being held hostage, and together, we can change this. Together, we can shape the landscape of our state by getting involved.”

Here are some of the main points the panel discussed.

Who sets property tax rates

Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, and property tax revenue is a primary source of funding for city government, county government and public schools.

State government doesn’t charge property taxes; that duty falls to city councils, county commissioners courts and school boards that vote each year to set tax rates. School taxes usually account for about half of a property owner’s tax bill. Other entities, such as emergency services districts that fund fire protection, also levy taxes in places where those entities have been created.

State lawmakers can take steps to reduce people’s property taxes by increasing homestead exemptions, which reduce the taxable value of homes, and by implementing compression, where state lawmakers send money to taxing entities to make up for revenue they lose with lower tax rates – essentially buying down the rates.

Texas lawmakers have worked to reduce property taxes in the past six years, starting with Senate Bill 2 in 2019, Sheetz said. That bill capped year-over-year property tax rate increases unless voters choose to increase their taxes beyond that rate, among other changes.

“That was a generational tax reform that we got done, but there’s still more work to do,” Sheetz said.

Texas voters also approved tax reform measures in 2023, and lawmakers this year approved additional homestead exemptions.

Those big wins “are starting to make a difference, but we need more,” Hughes said.

While city councils, school boards and county commissioners set property tax rates, the amount of money property owners pay ultimately is decided by the value of their property. Appraising the value of a property falls to the county tax assessor and collector’s office.

The issue for many Texans is that, while their property tax rates might go down, the appraised value of their property could go up, leaving them with a bigger tax bill. Senate Bill 2 in 2019 attempted to fight that by capping revenue increases for government entities through taxes, Hughes said.

However, the bill includes loopholes – mainly by allowing taxing entities to raise taxes to collect additional revenue during times of emergencies, and the definition of an emergency is broad, Hughes said.

Local government spending

Local governments determine how much money people will pay in property taxes – and what they’ll spend taxpayers’ money on.

Texas continues to grow, with more than 1,000 people moving to the state per day. Necessarily, government spending must increase to improve roads and provide essential government services – such as emergency services – to a growing population, panelists said.

However, some governments choose to invest heavily in things that aren’t core functions of government. Sheetz, who lives in Austin, said that city’s budget proposal for the coming year includes an additional $63 million for fine arts, cultural and public works programs.

“Meanwhile, people are literally getting taxed out of their homes,” he said.

Not all local governments, however, are hiking taxes on residents to fund such projects. Sheetz said there are several “good actors,” usually in more rural parts of the state, that are keeping taxes and spending lower. Longview is one of those places, Sheetz said.

“I was going through the numbers. The city of Longview does a pretty good job compared to other places,” he said.

Castro, who serves as a city councilman in Alvin, said his city is seeing notable population growth, and as a result, infrastructure has to be expanded, too.

“The difference is paying for infrastructural needs instead of recreational wants,” he said.

Government bonds

When government entities seek to raise additional revenue, they can propose general obligation bond measures to voters, giving them the choice whether to raise taxes to fund new projects. Certificate of obligation bonds, however, require only the approval of the governing entity.

Castro said certificate of obligation bonds are non-voter-approved debt. There are times and places to use those bonds; Central Texas communities might need to use those bonds to get funding for disaster relief quickly. But it’s not good to use such bonds to finance recreation centers and other non-essential projects.

While general obligation bonds give voters direct control over government spending, those elections generally take place in May and often have low voter turnout. To combat that, lawmakers are considering moving local-level elections to November, when people are more accustomed to heading to the polls, Hughes said. Consolidating elections also will save money.

Eliminating property taxes?

Not anytime soon. While many Texans like the sound of property tax elimination, that revenue is vital for governments to function, Hughes said. If property taxes were eliminated and replaced with higher sales tax rates, sales tax rates would have to be increased to about 20 cents per $1 spent.

“We don’t think a straight switch is the way to do it,” Hughes said. “But what can we do? We can continue to reduce [property tax rates] over time and reduce it more quickly if we deal with these local problems that are, not so much in Longview, but around the state.”

Getting involved

Kristi Antonick, who moderated the event, said people need to interact with local elected officials to tell them how they want to see tax dollars spent.

“We do want wonderful and safe neighborhoods, but we have to prioritize those things that are important in each community,” she said.

Local governments already are crafting their budgets and proposed tax rates for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, and they’ll adopt budgets and tax rates in the coming weeks.

People in East Texas who are interested in getting involved with Americans for Prosperity’s tax reform advocacy efforts can contact Burton at kburton@afphq.org or call (903) 799-9225.