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Despite the property tax relief package recently signed into law by Greg Abbott, most Texas residents are facing higher property taxes and blame the Republican governor for it, according to an exclusive poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek.
In July 2023, Abbott signed into law an $18 billion property tax relief package for Texas homeowners. Under the new legislation, local governments are to stop applying property taxes, and the state government steps in for the lost revenue. A 56 percent majority of Texans strongly support (26 percent) or support (30 percent) this legislation, while only 6 percent oppose it.
A majority of 57 percent of respondents to the survey said they currently pay property tax on residential or commercial property, while 36 percent said they didn't. The same percentage of respondents—57 percent—said that, as far as they are aware, their property tax has increased in the past year. Only 15 percent said their tax has neither increased or decreased, while 22 percent said it has gone down.
The poll was conducted among a sample size of 814 eligible voters in Texas between February 1 and 3.
The average effective property tax rate in Texas is 1.60 percent, compared to the national average of 0.99 percent. Some 36 percent of respondents to the Redfield & Wilton Strategies/Newsweek poll blamed the Texas state government for the high property tax rate, 15 percent blamed local county appraisers, 14 percent blamed local governments, 14 percent blamed the federal government, and 22 percent didn't know who to point the finger at.
Newsweek contacted Abbott's office for comment by email on Tuesday.
An overall majority of 69 percent of respondents said that, given the state of their personal finances, the state property tax is currently a "significant amount" of a burden (36 percent) or "a fair amount" (33 percent). Some 20 percent said it was "a little bit" of a burden, while 12 percent said the property tax wasn't a burden on their finances at all.
S. Draker, owner of several properties in Austin, Texas, told Newsweek that "property taxes here are pricing long-time residents and retirees out" of the city, "and I am sure other metro areas."
Draker said she was hired to run focus groups on this very issue a few years ago. "The target group was 55- to 65-year-old homeowners who vote in local elections," she said.
"I was saddened but not surprised at how many participants said despite being mortgage-free, they would not be able to stay in their homes post-retirement. Property taxes would eat their retirement income," she added.
Draker experienced this hike in property tax first-hand. "I grew up in a 1947 bungalow in Central Austin," she said. "This was my mother's home until she passed away in 2009. Property taxes on that same bungalow were north of $25,000 this last year. This house with the original 1947 windows and asbestos shingles on a postage stamp-sized lot. Absurd!
"I strongly disagree with having property taxes be the sole mechanism by which fundamental services are provided."
Are you a Texas homeowner and you've been affected by property tax increases? Let us know by contacting g.carbonaro@newsweek.com
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more