New bill would give renters, homeowners a break & boost school funding
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Daniel Pierre has rented his apartment in Dallas' West End for more than a year now.
"I like living downtown. It's a convenient location," he said.
But like other people, Pierre said his rent just went up. "When you're at the point of half of your paycheck going to rent, it's just challenging."
A new bill by State Representative John Bryant (D-Dallas) would provide renters like him with up to a 10% cash rebate based on their previous 12 months of rent.
The landlord would submit a certificate to the state that rent was paid and then the state would sent the rebate to the renter.
At a news conference at the Capitol Thursday morning, Bryant said renters have been left out of various property tax cut proposals. "We'd point out to you that the 3.8 million members of these households who rent, pay sales taxes like everybody else and have made their contribution to the surplus just like homeowners."
Other House Democrats joined Bryant, including Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Dallas.) "This is about stability for Texas families. You have not heard that in any other proposal."
Their plan would also help homeowners by raising the homestead exemption to $100,000 or 25% of the home's appraised value—whichever is higher.
It's capped at $200,000.
Bryant said, "The best thing for them and for us is to come out with a property tax reduction bill that causes a homeowner to actually notice a reduction."
The bill would also boost education spending, increasing the basic allotment for public schools by $1,000, from $6,160 to $7,160.
That would give teachers a $4,300 raise.
Both the school allotment and teacher salaries would be adjusted for inflation.
In all, Bryant said his bill would cost $20.9 billion.
A House committee approved a bill last week that would provide all property owners relief by using a process called compression: lowering property tax rates for schools and using more state revenues including sales taxes to pay for schools.
A bill passed unanimously by the Senate last week would also use compression but would also boost the homestead exemption to $100,000 for most homeowners and $110,000 for homeowners over 65.
The Senate measure would also provide bonuses for teachers: $6,000 for teachers in school districts with fewer than 20,000 students and $2,000 for teachers in school districts with more than 20,000 students.
It would be only for the next two years.
The president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, Zeph Capo, said in a statement, "There should be no tension between property tax relief for homeowners and renters and adequate funding for their community schools. This state has enough money in the bank to do both."
Pierre agreed and said a rebate for renters like himself would mean an extra $2,400 dollars in his pocket. "Yeah, sounds great. I think I would try to save some of that money or invest some of that money or send it back home."
The bill faces an uncertain future because Democrats are in the minority in both the House and Senate.
On Friday, a House committee is going to hear testimony on property appraisal increases.
CBS News Texas is also still waiting to hear if there will be any deal struck between Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan on tax relief following their meeting Wednesday.