Is Eliminating Property Taxes Not Conservative?

As some conservatives are still proposing eliminating property taxes in the state, the editorial board of the Dallas Morning News warned voters not to fall for such a “fake” conservative measure in an op-ed.

The conversation about completely eliminating property taxes has been floating for a while among Republicans and some conservative think tanks. However, the Texas Senate Finance Committee recently presented that eliminating property taxes would cost Texas $81.5 million, which is more than half of the $144 billion lawmakers allocated for the state’s two-year revenue budget.

This $81.5 billion figure would need to be compensated by other taxes or be cut from the state budget, however, lawmakers didn’t have a clear answer what to do or who would have to pay the price.

Some have said that to compensate for the income taxes, sales taxes should be increased up to 22%. This could disproportionately affect low-income families because these taxes make up a higher share of their income than they do for other families with higher incomes.

The DMNs also noted that this would skyrocket small business expenses, and the solution overall would be more regressive than the initial property tax problem.

In addition, Texas already has a high tax rate. According to the Tax Foundation, Texas had the 14th highest state tax rate in the nation in 2023.

The DMNs wrote that voters should be aware that these radical solutions are not conservatism, but solutions linked to a steade and careful governance.

“Beware voters, when ‘true conservatives’ running for office make promises they can keep only by ignoring what conservatism is,” the op-ed states. 

Despite knowing the costs, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has pushed for more property tax reliefs. Abbott earlier this year said that the Legislature should continue to hammer away at property taxes “until we get rid of the school property tax rate here in the state of Texas.”