Homeowners across Central Texas might notice a glaring trend—some market values are dropping in the midst of rising taxable values.  In Texas, there is a 10% annual cap on how much taxable values for homeowners with a homestead exemption can increase from the year prior, according to Texas Property Tax Code.  Alvin Lankford, chief appraiser of the Williamson Central Appraisal District, explained how if market values spiked 30% or more in 2022, then taxable values could still be playing “catch-up” in 2025.  “Your assessed value, which is the amount you can be taxed on, can only go up 10% per year, but your market value is still going to be wherever the market is,” Lankford said during a Williamson County Commissioners Court meeting in early June. “Assessed values will continually rise by 10% until they reach market value.” view article

The tax hike would go before voters in November if approved by the Harris County Commissioners Court.  Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has unveiled a proposal for a property tax increase—dubbed a “penny tax”—to preserve and expand county-funded early childhood programs formerly supported by federal COVID‑era relief. The move has spurred sharp criticism from commissioners unprepared for the announcement.  According to Hidalgo, the one‑cent tax would cost roughly $10 per $100,000 of assessed value and generate approximately $60 million a year from annual property taxes—revenue intended to sustain programs like Early REACH, which serves about 800 children under age five.  view article

Gov. Greg Abbott boasted about plowing another $3.5 billion into cutting homeowners’ property taxes in the latest legislative session. Now, he wants state lawmakers to go even further during the special session by capping how much cities and counties can increase their spending. The Texas Republican has framed the issue as his next major legislative battle after signing long-sought private school vouchers into law earlier this year.    “What I would like to see done is to make sure that every property taxing jurisdiction must live just within the same spending limits that the state has to live in,” Abbott said in an interview with Hearst Newspapers. “And if they're confined in that … their ability to impose greater property taxes is going to be hamstrung.” view article

Houston-based chain Shipley Do-Nuts no longer has Texas ownership after being acquired Monday by a California private equity firm, Houston TV channel KHOU reports.  A spokesman for Peak Rock Capital announced Monday that the Austin-based firm had sold Shipley to Leichtman Capital Partners, based in Beverly Hills. Also included in Leichtman's portfolio are Cici's Pizza and Nothing Bundt Cakes.  Shipley Do-Nuts, one of the largest donut companies in the country, got its start as a small Houston shop in 1936. Now, the nearly 90-year-old business has more than 375 stores operating in 14 states. view article

COLLEGE STATION (Texas Real Estate Research Center) – Texas’ housing market slowed in February after persistently low mortgage interest rates contributed to record sales in the existing-home sector the previous month. "Sales activity was greatly hindered by February’s unseasonably wintery weather that caused power outages and water disruptions across the state," said Dr. Luis Torres, research economist for the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. Existing-homes sold through the Texas Multiple Listing Services declined 16 percent from January, drawing even with year-ago levels. Despite slower sales, the state’s existing-home inventory fell below 1.5 months in February. The number of new listings that hit the market declined for the second straight month to their lowest reading since April 2020, when the state was under a stay-at-home mandate. view article

Count on the Texas Legislature to come up with a painfully complicated and inefficient way to repeal a painfully complicated and inefficient tax. Lawmakers deserve praise for targeting the Texas Franchise Tax, but their methods are unsound. The franchise tax, also called the margins or business tax, ranks consistently as one of the worst taxes anywhere in the country. It was the convoluted response to the Texas Supreme Court declaring the public school finance system unconstitutional. Lawmakers had to lower property taxes to comply with the court order, so to find replacement funds they rewrote the franchise tax, what businesses pay for the privilege to operate in our great state. view article

The Dallas school board Thursday night voted against putting a tax ratification election before voters this fall. The proposed 13-cent tax hike would have given the district $100 million to fund early childhood education and early college high school programs. The district also wanted to expand a program that pays extra money to top teachers who take jobs in some of the district’s toughest schools. view article

Trustees of the Wylie Independent School District proposed a tax rate of $1.13 per $100 of property value for the 2016-17 fiscal year — a tax cut of 2.4 cents — and added more money to the proposed budget for teachers' salaries during Monday's regular board meeting. Trustees conducted their third of three workshops for the 2016-17 budget of $32.340 million and set a special meeting for Monday, Aug. 29, at 6:30 p.m. to receive comments from the public on the budget and tax rate and then consider approval. view article

School trustees in Kilgore began their budget-writing season Monday with an overview of what is and isn’t known about financing the 2014-15 school year. view article