Senate approves lower voter-approved tax rate for larger cities and counties

The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 10 on third reading, approving a change that lowers the voter-approved tax rate from 3.5% to 2.5% for cities and counties with populations above 75,000.

Senator Bettencourt, who moved final passage, said the bill "will lower the voter approved rate to 2 and a half percent on cities and counties above 75,000 in population, providing more property tax relief starting next year." Opponents warned the shorter special-session timeline limited input from local officials and raised concerns about the bill’s effect on local budgets.

Why it matters: supporters framed SB 10 as property-tax relief; critics said the reduction will force more local governments to hold tax ratification elections to maintain services because there is not an equivalent state backfill for many local functions.

Senator Hinojosa urged delay until a regular session, citing inflation and federal funding reductions and arguing local governments need time to analyze consequences; she said some counties faced large proposed increases and cited local costs including jail beds, courthouse construction and prosecutor pay. Senator Eckhart argued the change would shift many budget decisions to the ballot box and could harm services such as emergency medical response, flood warning, and mental-health crisis response.

Senator Bettencourt responded that the truth-in-taxation calculation exempts jail costs, indigent defense and mental-health support from the voter-approval rate calculation and highlighted recent state appropriations for rural ambulances and sheriff departments as examples of state support for local services.

The Senate recorded the final tally as 18 ayes and 12 nays and declared the bill passed on third reading.