LUBBOCK, Texas — Donna Sue Clements with the Lubbock Association of Realtors said she hopes Proposition 4 makes homes a bit more affordable.
“We are so excited,” said Clements. “This is historic property tax relief for all Texans.”
While there are several aspects to the $18 billion legislation, Clements said the part most folks are familiar with is the homestead exemption increase. Before the amendment got the green light from Texas voters, the general school district homestead exemption was $40,000. Now, that amount will be $60,000 more than that.
“Their taxable amount for their homestead is now going to be going to 100,000, and so that’s going to translate into some dollars as they go through the tax assessment process,” Clements said.
According to Lubbock’s Chief Appraiser, Tim Radloff, the impact could come sooner rather than later.
“We’re in the process of running our levy and we’ll be mailing tax bills…within the next week,” Radloff said. “Everyone’s going to see, that has a homestead on it, is going to see that that $100,000 exemption on their tax bill.”
Radloff said homeowners will see two amounts on that property tax bill when it comes to school taxes. One amount will be the school district taxes with the previous $40,000 exemption and one with the new $100,000 one.
Although most Texans should see a lower number on their bill, this amendment doesn’t guarantee you’ll pay less. Radloff said if someone bought a house and the previous owner had a special homestead exemption, there may be an increase in the bill once their exemption expires the following year.
“A person who buys a house that had been qualified for a homestead exemption in an over 65 exemption and or a disabled person exemption, they get the benefit of those exemptions for that year unless that person bought some to another property,” said Radloff. “So that could be a reason possibly why your tax bill increases from the prior year.”
If one needs to apply for the first time, Clements said the application is on the Appraisal District’s website. However, she adds there are some steps that need to be done first.
“The first thing you want to make sure you do is change your address so that it is legally reflected on your driver’s license, then your next step is to go to the LCAD website and you can go through and complete that process online,” Clements said.
Radloff recommended reaching out to the Appraisal District for any questions regarding homestead exemptions or property tax bills in general.
