Andrea Flores On Nov. 7, Texans will make several, if any, changes to the State Constitution including proposition 4. If passed, homeowners would pay less property taxes, but public schools may see less funding.
The proposed state constitutional amendment states that homeowners would receive a higher homestead exemption, which would lower one of the highest property taxes in the country.
Homestead exemption lowers taxes by removing part of a home’s value from taxation. The exemption would double the amount from $40,000 to $100,000.
Hidalgo County Tax Assessor-Collector Pablo “Paul” Villarreal Jr. clarified with an example.
“If you have a home that is worth $200,000, at that point, it’s going to deduct the $100,000, and you’re going to pay in the difference,” Villarreal said.
Political science Assistant Professor Andrew Smith said almost all homeowners would see a decrease in their property taxes.
Smith explained property taxes are the primary source of funding for public schools and any cuts to property taxes is money that does not go to schools.
“That will offset some of the lost revenue from the property tax cut but that’s also a temporary measure,” he said. “That is not something that is going to continue long term; these property tax cuts will.”
Smith also added that the high number of proposed amendments may result in a low voter turnout. He said much of the wording in the propositions is vague and unclear even when using correct terminology like ‘ad valorem.’
“Not enough information out there about most of these that voters are almost operating blindly on a lot of these, and people don’t want to make a quote-on-quote bad decision one way or the other,” Smith said. “So, they simply just don’t vote.”
Early voting begins on Oct. 23 and ends Nov. 3. Students and the community can cast a ballot at the UTRGV Student Academic Center or the Edinburg Elections Annex building.
