The Case Texas Democrats Should Make On Property Taxes
Make Austin pay its share and lower taxes for working families.
Texans are tired of the property-tax shell game. For years, Republicans in the Legislature have promised “historic tax relief.” And for years, homeowner bills continued to climb anyway. Why?
Because when the state underfunds public schools, the cost doesn’t disappear. It lands on your local property tax statement. Local school districts still have to pay teachers, keep class sizes manageable, operate buses, and maintain the facilities.
If the Legislature fails to fulfill its obligation year after year, local property taxes increase to cover the shortfall. Then the same politicians turn around and blame “Democratic cities” for doing the only thing they can to keep the schools open.
The “Small Government” Scam.
Republicans sell “small government” like it’s a tax cut. In practice, it’s a cost shift, from the state budget to you. They brag about keeping state taxes “low,” then quietly shove school costs onto local property rolls and call it conservative. It’s hide-the-ball government.
Here is how this Republican scam works:
First, they cut the state share of school financing. When Austin underpays formulas or piles on unfunded mandates, districts have two choices, raise local rates or cut classroom staff. Either way, homeowners eat it.
Then, they blast the media and their followers with their slogans and gimmicks. Headlines tout “historic relief,” but without indexing school funding to inflation or creating a real, recurring buy-down, your bill creeps back up.
Now, they’ve privatized the pot. Vouchers siphon dollars out of the very fund that lowers local school taxes and pays teachers. Every voucher dollar is a dollar that does not reduce your M&O rate.
And, don’t forget about the corporate carve-outs. State-blessed abatements for large companies shrink the local tax base, so homeowners make up the gap.
Voila, you’ve got yourself a regressive swap. Starve state revenue, lean harder on local property and sales taxes. The wealthy feel it least. Working families feel it most.
“Small government” sounds principled. But if the state walks away from its share and your property taxes go up, you’ve been bamboozled. Real fiscal responsibility means paying our shared obligations at the STATE level, so your local bill actually falls, and your neighborhood school actually improves.
Texans don’t want bureaucracy. We want HONEST MATH. If Austin, a.k.a. the Texas Government, paid its fair share, homeowners would pay less.
Legislative Democratic candidates (new and incumbents) should message on lowering property taxes by restoring the state’s share of school funding.
Nearly two-thirds of Texans are homeowners, so every time Austin dodges its school-funding responsibility, most Texans feel it in their mortgage escrow or in a lump-sum check to the county.
And the squeeze is particularly harsh for those on fixed incomes. Older Texans are getting priced out. A Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies analysis shows 765,000+ Texas households 65+ are now cost-burdened (spending 30%+ of income on housing). That’s a red-alert affordability trend.
This is a progressive issue.
It needs to start with fairness. Stop corporate carve-outs that shrink the local tax base and force homeowners to make up the difference. Then, create an income-sensitive circuit breaker so seniors and low-income homeowners aren’t taxed out of their homes when appraisals spike. And include renter relief, because property taxes are built into the rent every month.
On the campaign trail, talk about making Austin pay its share. Center the everyday homeowner and the neighborhood school, not lobbyist gimmicks. No vouchers, because they siphon the very dollars that should be used to lower local school tax rates and pay teachers. Public money should do two things that people can feel right away:
Lower the bill on the kitchen table and
Fund the school down the street.
Put those together and you have a clean, credible message to fund schools at the state level, protect people on fixed incomes, give renters a fair shake, and keep public dollars in public schools so homeowners actually pay less.
“But Democratic cities raise property taxes, and the Republican Legislature cuts them.”
This has been the Republican message for years, and it’s all been a smoke-screen for Republican Legislators to cut costs for their billionaire buddies, while pointing fingers at someone else, and jacking up taxes for working-class folks.
Republicans have run Texas for 30 years. If they knew how to lower taxes for working people, they would have done it by now. Instead, they cut the state share of school funding, pile on unfunded mandates, and then point at cities and school boards when locals are forced to plug the hole.
All they’re doing is transferring the state ledger onto your mortgage.
When Austin underpays, locals have two options, either raise revenue or cut classroom staff. Republicans engineered that bind and then weaponized it. They also shower select corporations with abatements that shrink the local tax base. If the state thinks a deal is worthwhile, then that’s fine. But only if the state fully backfills the school tax base, so your bill doesn’t rise to cover someone else’s break.
Their “historic cuts” are mostly ONE-TIME BUY-DOWNS or publicity stunts that never fix the formulas. That’s why the GOP message sounds good on TV and lands badly at your kitchen table.
Lie: “Cities raised your taxes.”
Truth: Locals raise more when the state underpays. Restore the state share so cities and school districts don’t have to.
Lie: “Corporate incentives grow the economy.”
Truth: Republicans give out corporate incentives on the backs of homeowners. There should be no abatement unless the state fully backfills the school tax base. Growth shouldn’t mean your taxes go up.
Republicans wrote the rules that push school costs onto homeowners and then brag about “small government,” while you pay more.
Democrats should be running on rewriting the rules so Austin pays its share, your local rate goes down, and public money stays in public schools.
What this means for renters.
Renters typically pay property taxes through their monthly rent. When the state underfunds schools and appraisals rise, landlords pass the cost on to tenants. Democrats could stop the pass-through by stabilizing school funding at the state level, so local M&O rates come down, and add a simple, automatic renter’s credit to ensure relief reaches people who don’t hold a deed.
Real affordability means relief for homeowners and renters, who see lower housing costs when Austin pays its share.
Republicans have had 30 years to lower property taxes, and all they’ve done is prove that the only tax bracket they care about is the top 1%. Meanwhile, homeowners are squeezed, seniors on fixed incomes face displacement, renters absorb the pass-through in higher monthly bills, and classrooms struggle to survive while vouchers and corporate carve-outs siphon public dollars.
Texans want math that adds up at the kitchen table. If the state pays its share, your bill goes down. This should be the Democratic plan:
Restore the state share of school funding and index it to inflation.
Create a permanent state fund that reduces local school maintenance and operations (M&O) rates annually.
Ban unfunded mandates.
Add a circuit breaker to keep seniors and low-income homeowners in their homes.
Offer a renter’s credit so relief reaches everyone who pays for housing.
Stop corporate abatements unless the state fully compensates for the loss of school tax revenue.
The contrast is simple. The GOP record is to talk big, shift costs to your home, and chase privatization. The Democratic plan should be to make Austin pay what it owes, lower your taxes, and keep public money in public schools. If we want real, durable property-tax relief, we should back candidates who will fund schools at the state level and end the shell game. When Austin pays up, Texans pay less. That’s how we cut property taxes the right way.
November 4: Constitutional/TX18/SD09 Election
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It has been a shell game from the Texas GOP leadership for as long as many Texans can remember. On the Amendments coming up, a lot of them sound needed but if it says the state will pickup part of the funding or action do not believe it!!!
Not to mention decades of propaganda about the evils of a state income tax.