For some Republicans in Texas, abolishing property taxes in the state has been a longtime goal. But that goal would be very costly to achieve, according to numbers from state budget officials released Wednesday.
A report from the Legislative Budget Board found that Texas would need to spend $81.5 billion to completely get rid of all local property taxes – more than half of the state’s current $144 billion two-year budget.
“This was kind of done, I think, to send a message by the Senate and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick that this is probably not as realistic of a goal as maybe some in his party think,” said Matthew Watkins, incoming editor in chief for the Texas Tribune. “And if they were going to do that, they would have to significantly raise sales taxes to do so, which would probably not be a very popular thing.”
Lowering property taxes has been a high priority for many Republican lawmakers in Texas, which has some of the highest property taxes in the U.S. Texas doesn’t have an income tax and relies on property taxes, as well as sales taxes, to meet much of its budgetary needs.
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