As Texas appraisal districts race toward the July 25 deadline to certify their tax rolls, the state’s two most powerful Republicans are advancing competing visions for the next round of property-tax cuts, and the gap between them will frame the property tax debate. Gov. Greg Abbott is campaigning on eliminating school district property taxes outright, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing a more targeted expansion of exemptions and freezes, according to reporting by Texas Standard and CBS Texas.
Abbott’s plan centers on a constitutional amendment that would let voters phase out school district property taxes, paired with caps on local government spending and a higher requirement for voter-approved tax increases, as KVUE reported. It is the most ambitious relief promise on the table and the centerpiece of his reelection message.
Patrick’s alternative, which he has branded “Operation Double Nickel,” would extend senior-style tax benefits to homeowners beginning at age 55, a change he says would let roughly 3.3 million Texans save more than $16,000 over a decade through frozen school and property taxes, and would add a $40,000 homestead exemption for eligible households, according to CBS Texas.
The difference is one of degree and structure. Patrick has stopped short of endorsing full abolition without guarantees that the lost revenue can be replaced, emphasizing bigger exemptions and spending discipline instead. Abbott is betting that voters will embrace elimination as a goal even if it takes several sessions to reach. Both men agree property taxes are a potent political issue in a state with no income tax, where the levy funds schools and local government alike.
The fiscal question hangs over both plans. Eliminating school district property taxes would force the state to find tens of billions of dollars a year to backfill public education, which the tax currently helps fund, analysts warn. The advocacy group Every Texan, in an analysis titled “Two Property Tax Plans, One Fiscal Reality,” cautioned that promises of elimination collide with the cost of replacing the revenue, and CBS Austin has reported that abolition would require the state to cover billions in school costs from other sources.
For now, Texans are seeing this year’s relief arrive. Under Senate Bill 4 and the constitutional amendment voters approved as Proposition 13 last November, the school homestead exemption rose from $100,000 to $140,000 for the 2026 tax year, with an additional $60,000 for homeowners who are over 65 or disabled, bringing their exemption to $200,000.
The Texas Comptroller estimates the change saves the average homeowner about $560 a year in school taxes. Those savings first show up on the bills that follow this summer’s certification, when chief appraisers send certified values to taxing units and local governments begin setting FY2027 rates in August, ahead of any November ratification elections.
The Texas Dispatch has examined Abbott’s proposed restructuring of the property-tax system in prior coverage. Whether elimination or expanded exemptions prevails will be decided when lawmakers convene, but the contest is already shaping the campaign. The Legislature next meets January 12, 2027.