AUSTIN, TX – Today, Senator Paul Bettencourt’s (R-Houston) released the following statement relating the Texas House vote on Senate Bill 10:

“Unanticipated and disappointing vote by 71 House members of both parties stopping property tax relief for 10's of millions of Texas Taxpayers on their county, city and other taxing unit property tax bills in 2026, SB 10. The reduction of the Voter Approval Tax Rate from 3.5% to 2.5% would have reduced property tax levy increases by 29.57%, but still gives the Taxing units the option to ask their voters to approve additional higher levies in the November election.

This would be good public policy as Texas taxpayers are hard pressed to keep up with year-to-year county tax revenue hikes that are 3 times higher than school tax levies and city tax revenues of about 2.5 times higher than the same too!

Unfortunately, not a single House member who voted No contacted me as Senate Author to get information before the vote. The Senate cannot accept the House amendments on SB 10 that basically uncapped Truth-In-Taxation allowing an unlimited property tax revenue increase on public safety expenditures, so concurring is not an option.

Only an agreed-upon Conference Committee Report can provide desperately needed property tax relief to the hard-pressed taxpayers in the State. The 75K population bracket in SB 10 would have helped a super majority of Texas Taxpayers pay less on their property tax bills in 2026.”

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