05/13/2026
If you live anywhere in Texas, you know this feeling all too well: you open your appraisal notice (like I did last month) you immediately wonder how much higher your property tax bill could climb next.
For families across the Permian Basin, rising appraisals impact far more than just homeowners. They affect renters, small businesses, restaurants, oilfield service companies, ranchers, and working families already dealing with rising costs across the board.
It is important to remember that the State of Texas does not impose or collect property taxes. Property taxes are levied and collected at the local level. However, the Legislature has worked to limit (for better or worse) how much local governments can tax Texans and provide meaningful relief wherever possible.
During the most recent legislative session, we passed more than $51 billion in property tax relief — the largest property tax relief package in Texas history. I proudly supported those efforts because Texans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money. As part of the package, we increased the homestead exemption so the first $200,000 of a senior’s home value is exempt from school property taxes. For all other homeowners, the homestead exemption was increased to $140,000.
Those changes matter. But I also understand why many Texans still feel frustrated. Even with historic tax relief, skyrocketing appraisals can quickly eat away at those savings.
That’s why I continue to support stronger, long-term appraisal reform that protects Texans from being taxed out of their homes, land, and businesses simply because property values continue climbing around them.
In 2023, many of my fellow state reps. in the Texas House and I pushed for stronger structural reforms that would have lowered the homestead appraisal cap from 10% to 5% and created appraisal caps for non-homestead properties for the first time ever. I was proud to support that effort because I believe Texans deserve long-term protections from runaway appraisals.
Unfortunately, both chambers couldn’t agree on our proposal. And while I still voted for any form of property tax relief, I don’t believe that Texans will ever genuinely feel relief from property taxes until we have appraisal reform.
In the meantime, I want to remind you that you have the right to protest your appraisal!
If you believe the valuation of your home or other property is inaccurate or unfair, file a protest with your local appraisal district before the deadline this Friday, May 15th. Most county appraisal districts have the details on how to do it on their website.
It costs nothing to protest it, and it is one tool available to Texans to push back against runaway appraisals. And, of course, successfully protesting your appraisal will lower your property tax bill in the upcoming year.
