Six in 10 older Texas homeowners now owe no school property tax, analysis finds

About six of every 10 Texas homeowners age 65 or older no longer pay any school district property tax, according to an analysis by The Texas Tribune published this week.

The shift follows the Legislature's latest round of tax relief, which raised the general homestead exemption on school taxes to $140,000 last year. Homeowners 65 and older stack an additional senior exemption on top of that, shielding $200,000 of a home's value from school taxes. For many older owners in modest homes, that wipes out the school portion of the bill entirely.

In all, nearly 2.4 million Texans pay no school property tax, the Tribune reported.

The numbers

• The average school tax bill on a general homestead fell 13.6% to $896, according to the analysis.
• For senior homeowners the average dropped 33% to $380.
• Lawmakers have committed about $51 billion a year to cutting school property taxes.
• The state's 65-and-older population, about 3.9 million in 2020, is projected to reach 7.5 million by 2050.

Who pays instead

The relief is financed largely through state spending, which leans on sales tax revenue paid by Texans of every age. Renters and owners of commercial property do not get homestead exemptions, so a growing share of the remaining school tax falls on them, the Tribune found.

Supporters say the policy rewards people who have paid taxes for decades. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has led property tax legislation, told the Tribune that reaching a zero bill after a lifetime of payments is "a great day" for those homeowners.

Others question the balance. Derrick Wilson, who chairs the Texas Young Republican Federation, said it seems "foundationally unfair" to direct the relief to an older generation. Janelle Fritts, an analyst with the Tax Foundation, said younger people may need the help more. Tax experts across the political spectrum told the Tribune that wealthier seniors gain the most.

Sources

Denton Record-Chronicle