Property taxes key in state contest
Issue for homeowners looms large for lieutenant governor candidates
Four years ago, Dan Patrick promised he would “cut property taxes for all Texans” if he were elected lieutenant governor.
But since he won that race, property taxes for most Texans have continued to increase as Patrick’s attempts to institute reforms have failed to become law or have not produced substantial savings for homeowners.
Now those misfires are central to Democrat Mike Collier’s campaign against Patrick. Collier, an accountant from Kingwood, has said Patrick not only has failed to reduce taxes, but has made decisions as the leader of the Texas Senate that have led local school districts to raise property taxes even more.
“Dan Patrick has failed to resolve the property tax problem,” Collier said. “It’s gotten much worse.”
Patrick’s campaign says he fulfilled his promise by passing reforms in 2015 that increased homestead exemptions from $15,000 to $25,000. There would be bigger breaks too, says Patrick’s staff, but the Texas House has impeded his efforts. Patrick declined interview requests for this story.
With the Texas Legislature guaranteed to have a
new House Speaker next year because San Antonio Republican Joe Straus decided not to run for re-election, Patrick, 68, sees a better chance to get more done on property taxes, said Allen Blakemore, Patrick’s chief campaign strategist.
“He is confident that the next House Speaker will not block property tax reform,” Blakemore said.
Jason Embry, a spokesman for Straus, shot back: “Texans should know that the reason why they haven’t seen property-tax relief is because Dan Patrick refuses to invest in public schools. As a result, more of the burden of paying for education has shifted to local property taxpayers.”
The lieutenant governor plays a formidable role in politics in Texas. Though elected statewide, Patrick presides over the Senate, which allows him to control committee assignments and the flow of legislation.
A former talk radio host and TV sports anchor, Patrick served two terms in the Texas Senate before he was ran for lieutenant governor in 2014. Patrick easily won as he campaigned as an “authentic conservative” who warned of a border “invasion” of unauthorized immigrants and terrorists. In the general election, he beat Democrat Leticia Van de Putte, winning 58 percent of the vote.
He was the Texas chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign, and one of his top priorities in the 2017 Legislative session, along with property tax reform, was a bathroom privacy law that would have barred transgender people from using bathrooms that do not correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificates.
The proposal passed the Texas Senate, but was never heard in the Texas House. The state faced threats of boycotts from business groups over the legislation, which Patrick insisted was not discriminatory.
“It’s simply common sense, common decency and public safety to protect the women of the state of Texas,” Patrick said last year as protesters and supporters flooded the State Capitol.
Collier said Patrick’s focus on the “hateful bathroom bill” wasted everyone’s time and he would not let the Senate trifle with “stunts and gimmicks.”
Tax relief tops agenda
Collier, 57, says Patrick’s reform efforts are ignoring what’s really driving up property taxes: the state’s dwindling funding for public schools. As Texas has decreased the flow of state funds to school districts — in 2012, the state provided 46 percent of education funding, compared to 38 percent in 2019, according to the Legislative Budget Board — school districts have turned to property tax increases to help fill the gap.
Additionally, Collier said the Legislature needs to close a loophole in corporate property tax laws that allow companies to pay substantially less in taxes because their properties are assessed far below market value, while homeowners and small businesses are required by law to be assessed at the market rate. Collier said small businesses typically cannot afford the attorney fees to take advantage of the loophole like big corporations can.
Collier is far from the first one to target that tax inequity. In 2006 the state’s largest appraisal districts released their own study saying they were losing $4 billion in property tax collections a year because of the lower corporate tax bills. Collier says the property tax breaks for corporations have surely grown since then. Collier proposes using some of that money to restore funding for schools so that local school districts won’t have to turn to property tax revenue as often.
“There is no question that the state is responsible for skyrocketing property taxes, even though property taxes are collected locally,” Collier said.
Patrick’s efforts to keep property taxes low have included pushing local governments to tighten their belts.
In the 2017 legislative session and in a special session later in the year, Patrick backed a Senate plan that would have required cities, counties and school districts to get voter approval when increasing property taxes by more than 4 percent. Currently, state law allows local governments to raise taxes 8 percent before they are forced to hold an election. They are free to raise property taxes to that cap every year without an election.
The Patrick-favored reform measures twice passed the Texas Senate. The Texas House proposed similar reforms but would have set the limit for tax increases at 6 percent, with any larger increases requiring an election. Even though the Senate agreed to accept a 5 percent limit, the two chambers never made a deal.
In campaign ads, Patrick makes it clear that he wants to take another run at lowering the limit.
“We must reduce property taxes now,” Patrick says in one television ad released earlier this year. “I will ensure you have a right to vote on local property taxes.”
Ahead in cash, polls
But while the limit on tax increases could reduce future property taxes for some homeowners, many would never see any impact from the reforms the Senate aggressively pushed in 2017. Of the state’s 38 most populous counties, just four in 2016 pushed the tax rate above the 5 percent threshold the Senate settled on. And in 2015, just 13 of those 38 went above 5 percent.
Despite Collier’s attacks, Patrick is far ahead of him in fundraising and in the polls. Since the start of 2017, Patrick raised more than $14 million while Collier has yet to top $1 million. And Patrick had $8.2 million in his Texans for Dan Patrick campaign account heading into October. Collier had just $233,000 in his account.
Patrick, who lives in Montgomery County, has refused requests to debate Collier and has had a limited number of public campaign events. He has largely focused his campaign on appealing to base Republican voters. In TV ads, he warns Democrats are trying to turn Texas into California.
Patrick’s punchline: “Well, I’m not about to let that happen.”