HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — In a ceremonial bill signing Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott applauded efforts by state lawmakers to pass $18 billion dollars in property tax relief this summer.
All it needs now is your vote.
“The largest property tax cut in the history of our state," Abbott said after signing the two bills.
The bills, with your vote, will do several things: Allow the state to send money to school districts to help lower tax rates, raise the homestead exemption to $100,000 dollars and cap appraisals for non-homestead properties.
That means for an average home in Texas worth about $300,000, that homeowner will save between $1,200 to $1,400 a year.
It also includes benefits for small businesses.
It still needs your vote, but in Harris County, some are concerned that the upcoming election will be chaotic.
“When you’re preparing for an election, you start nine months out and to turn that over to a new set of officials just weeks before the start of voting in a new election is going to be catastrophic," Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said.
In Austin Tuesday, Harris County attorneys asked a Travis County judge for an injunction on a new law that on September 1 will abolish the Harris County Elections Administrator's Office and return the duties back to two elected county leaders.
But on Wednesday, state lawmakers disagreed.
“You couldn’t have any more chaos they we’ve already had for the last two elections in Harris County," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.
Senator Paul Bettencourt, the author behind that new law, said it’s going back to how things were run before.
“The sooner you get it done the better because these are elected officials that have prior experience and in some cases, they’re just going to get their old employees back because they’ve actually ran those departments before," Sen. Bettencourt said.
The judge in Travis County has not yet ruled on the injunction. If it is granted, however, it will likely be appealed and could eventually be decided by the Texas Supreme Court.