Since I purchased my property, its appraised value has jumped from $60,000 to $101,000 — with no improvements, no additions, and no justification. This isn’t just a personal hardship — it’s a widespread crisis impacting homeowners across Walker County, the state of Texas, and the entire country. Property taxes are no longer about community support — they have become a tool of economic punishment against working families, seniors, and responsible landowners.

The current system allows government entities to continuously extract more from homeowners, regardless of whether a property has changed. These repeated appraisal hikes — often 20% to 50% within a few short years — are not sustainable, nor are they constitutional in spirit. People are being taxed out of their homes, especially those on fixed incomes or limited means.

Research by the National Association of Home Builders shows property tax revenue rose 6.0% in just the first quarter of 2022 alone, and that growth was driven not by real development — but by inflated and speculative appraisals.

This isn’t about adjusting a formula or fine-tuning a system. It’s about ending a form of taxation that allows the government to charge rent on property we already own.

We propose eliminating property taxes entirely and replacing them with fairer, more transparent revenue models that do not strip citizens of home ownership or penalize them year after year for merely owning land. Texans deserve to own their homes — not lease them endlessly from the state.

---

✍️ Sign this petition if you believe:

You should not lose your home due to rising tax bills.

Property taxes should not rise without new construction or sale.

The government should not have the power to seize property over unpaid taxes.

There are better ways to fund schools and infrastructure without targeting homeowners.

“Stop Renting What We Already Own”

 

1. A System That Punishes Ownership

 

Asset Inflation Without Consent – In Walker County, homeowners have seen 20 %-50 % valuation jumps in just four years. These “paper gains” do not put money in anyone’s pocket, yet they trigger annual tax bills that can rise faster than wages or Social Security.

 

Forced Displacement – Counties can seize a homestead over delinquent taxes, making the State the de-facto landlord. Texans on fixed incomes face the prospect of losing homes they have paid off.

 

 

2. Regressive and Unpredictable

 

Hits the Middle Class Hardest – Property tax rates in Texas are the seventh-highest in the nation, averaging 1.6 % of market value. A family in a modest $250 k home can owe $4,000+ every year—before utilities, insurance, or repairs.

 

No Relation to Ability to Pay – Unlike a sales or consumption tax, the levy is due regardless of job loss, medical bills, or recession. When values spike (as they did +6 % statewide in 2022 alone), taxes jump automatically.

 

 

3. Discourages Investment and Improvement

 

“Remodel Penalty” – Add a bedroom, replace a roof, or build an ADA ramp and the CAD may raise your value, effectively taxing you for maintaining your own property.

 

Chills New Construction – Small builders pass rising tax projections to buyers, inflating already record-high starter-home prices.

 

 

4. Opaque and Costly to Administer

 

80+ Separate Taxing Entities per County – ISDs, MUDs, road districts, hospital districts—all bill through property taxes, creating layers of bureaucracy and appraisal disputes that cost millions to resolve.

 

Protest Process Favors Large Firms – Corporations can hire agents and attorneys to negotiate lower valuations, shifting more burden onto ordinary homeowners.

 

 

5. Better Funding Alternatives Exist

 

Option Why It’s Better

 

Broader Consumption (Sales) Tax Payers control tax by spending choices; tourists and non-residents share the load.

Statewide VAT or Franchise Surcharge Spreads cost across all sectors, not just landowners.

Energy & Natural-Resource Royalties Texas already collects oil & gas severance; earmarking more to schools could replace local M&O levies.

Flat Income Surtax with Super-Majority Cap If absolutely needed, ties tax to ability to pay and requires voter approval for hikes.

 

 

6. Moral & Constitutional Considerations

 

Double Taxation – Texans also pay sales, fuel, hotel, and assorted fees. Constant property levies create a perpetual “use fee” on a single asset.

 

Right to Security in One’s Home – The Texas Bill of Rights protects property from unreasonable seizure; lifelong taxation for mere ownership undermines that guarantee.

 

 

 

---

 

📣 OUR DEMAND

 

We, the undersigned, call on the Legislature to:

 

1. Phase out ad valorem property taxes statewide within a defined sunset window.

 

 

2. Freeze all residential property tax collections during the transition period.

 

 

3. Adopt HB 960 (89R) “Texas Tax Reform Act of 2025” or a similar amendment that fully replaces school M&O and local operating revenue with transparent, voter-approved alternatives.

What House Bill 960 (89R) Would Do

 

(“Texas Tax Reform Act of 2025,” filed by Rep. Steve Toth)

 

Core section What it proposes Why it matters

 

Article 1 – State Value-Added Tax (VAT) • Repeals the 6.25 % state sales-and-use tax and replaces it with a 5 % state VAT on the value businesses add at each stage of production. A VAT is broader than a retail sales tax and, in theory, can raise the same revenue with a lower headline rate.

Article 2 – Local VAT (County/City) • Abolishes local sales taxes.<br>• Allows cities, counties and special districts to levy their own local VAT up to 2 %. Gives local governments a replacement revenue stream once property-tax M&O goes away.

Article 3 – REPEAL of School-District Maintenance-and-Operations (M&O) Property Tax • Eliminates school-district M&O ad valorem taxes statewide after a transition period.<br>• Replaces those dollars with the new state VAT. The school M&O levy makes up roughly half of every Texas property-tax bill. Scrapping it would slash most homeowners’ annual tax obligation.

Article 4 – Hard Caps on Any Remaining Ad Valorem Taxes • Bars other local entities from raising remaining property-tax rates above $0.25 per $100 valuation without voter approval.<br>• Requires automatic roll-back elections for any rate increase above inflation. Seeks to keep counties, cities and special districts from back-filling lost revenue by simply hiking what small property-tax authority they have left.

Article 5 – School-Finance Reform • Redirects the new VAT revenues to the Foundation School Program.<br>• Adjusts formulas so districts no longer depend on local appraisals for basic funding. Creates a state-level “bucket” so every district is funded per student, not per property base.

Transition & Sunset • Sets a multi-year phase-out schedule (beginning 2026, complete by 2031).<br>• Requires the Legislature to certify that new VAT revenue fully offsets the repealed property-tax stream before each phase-down step. Meant to avoid budget shocks for schools and local governments during the switchover.

 

 

Legislative status:

 

Filed November 2024 for the 89th Texas Legislature (Regular Session 2025).

 

Referred to the House Ways & Means Committee on March 6 2025; no hearing yet. 

 

 

 

---

 

Key Arguments For HB 960

 

1. True Home Ownership – Ends the notion that Texans “rent” their homes from the government via perpetual property taxes.

 

 

2. Uniform School Funding – Removes wealth-based disparities; every district would be funded from the same statewide pot.

 

 

3. Economic Growth – Supporters say a VAT taxes consumption, not savings or investment, encouraging homebuilding and business capital formation.

 

 

 

Key Concerns Raised

 

1. Regressive Impact – A VAT can hit low-income families harder because it taxes everyday purchases.

 

 

2. Revenue Volatility – Sales-based taxes fluctuate with the economy; critics fear funding gaps in recessions.

 

 

3. Local Autonomy – Cities and counties would lose their largest independently controlled revenue source.

 

Bottom line: HB 960 is the most sweeping proposal yet to abolish school-district property taxes in Texas and backfill the money with a state + local value-added-tax system, while capping any remaining ad valorem levies. Whether it advances will depend on revenue estimates, political appetite for a VAT, and voter support for rewriting Texas’ tax architecture.

 

4. Mandate a constitutional amendment so that no future legislature can re-impose property taxation without a statewide popular referred

✍️ SIGN BELOW

 

By signing, I affirm that Texas should protect true ownership, end perpetual housing levies, and pursue fairer, consumption-based funding for essential services.

---

📣 Join us in calling on state lawmakers to eliminate property taxes in Texas and return the right of ownership to the people.