Governor Abbott Promotes Statewide Property Tax Relief Agenda at Tarrant County Fiscal Forum

FORT WORTH, TX — Governor Greg Abbott joined county commissioners and taxpayer advocates at the Tarrant County Subcourthouse Thursday afternoon to champion his property tax reform agenda for the upcoming 89th Texas Legislative Session.

Rate Compression and Homestead Exemption Expansion

Highlighting Tarrant County’s adoption of the no-new-revenue tax rate as a statewide benchmark for municipal discipline, Governor Abbott reaffirmed his commitment to utilizing state budget surplus funds to buy down local school district maintenance and operations (M&O) property tax rates. The Governor’s legislative blueprint proposes expanding the state homestead exemption to $120,000 for residential homeowners and establishing strict 3 percent annual caps on commercial property appraisal growth.

Abbott emphasized that returning surplus taxpayer funds directly to homeowners and small business owners is vital to shielding Texans from inflation.

Municipal Resistance and School District Funding

Local government associations and school district superintendents raised concerns that aggressive state compression mandates without permanent state revenue replacement could jeopardize municipal emergency services and public classroom staffing.

Governor Abbott countered that independent financial audits of school district overhead will identify non-instructional administrative waste that can be redirected to classrooms.

Legislative Filing Deadlines

Lawmakers will begin pre-filing tax relief legislation on November 10, 2026, ahead of the January legislative convening in Austin.