Between the school finance bill that cut property tax rates and the property tax reform bill which limited future growth of them, 2020 is the first year the Legislature’s plan for tax relief kicks in. Last year, lawmakers estimated the former bill would lower school district property tax rates by an average of 8 cents per $100 valuation in…

2019 may have been the perfect year for lawmakers to pass an ambitious and expensive school finance reform and property tax reduction plan. Now Texas politicians face questions about whether doing so — without raising taxes elsewhere — will be sustainable in less auspicious times.

Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee interim hearing, led by State Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), brought with it the reemergence of a familiar topic: property taxes.

Officials like to credit the state’s lack of a corporate or personal income tax for making Texas one of the best states for business, but skyrocketing property values have given it a less-desirable ranking: one of the highest effective property tax rates in the nation, according to various studies a

“In addition to eliminating its property tax, Von Ormy, better known as a ‘liberty city,’ carries no debt, spends little, and has more than enough cash on hand to fully cover maintenance and operations costs for a full year in the event of a sudden emergency,” she wrote. “It has stayed true to its original…