Latest news with #Comptroller
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
Texas Legislature approves $338 billion two-year spending plan with a focus on property tax relief
Texas lawmakers signed off Saturday on a $338 billion two-year spending plan that directs billions toward hiking teacher pay, cutting property taxes and shoring up the state's water infrastructure, after House and Senate budget writers ironed out their differences and won approval from both chambers on their final draft. The budget now heads to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who is expected to verify there is enough revenue to cover the Legislature's planned spending — the last step before the 1,056-page bill reaches Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The Texas State Capitol on Sept. 20, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Tamir Kalifa / Stringer / Getty Images The spending plan doles out the money to run the state's business for the next two years, from September through the end of August 2027. It includes the underlying funding for some of the biggest bills passed this session, much of it paid for with general revenue, Texas' main source of taxpayer funds used to cover core services. Lawmakers approved $149 billion in general revenue spending, with the rest drawn from federal funds and other state revenue earmarked for specific uses. The budget's $338 billion price tag is nearly $17 billion more than what lawmakers budgeted two years ago, about a 5% increase. However, the Legislature is expected to approve additional spending for the current cycle — which runs through the end of August — in what is known as the supplemental budget, lessening the year-to-year increase. A large chunk of the budget — more than one out of every seven dollars — is devoted to maintaining and providing new property tax cuts, a tab that has grown to $51 billion. For the last several years, lawmakers have tried to rein in Texans' property tax bills by sending billions of dollars to school districts to reduce how much in property taxes they collect from homeowners and businesses. The state does not collect property taxes; its coffers are filled through a combination of sources that include sales tax, taxes on oil and gas production, and franchise taxes on businesses. With the help of a projected $24 billion budget surplus, the Legislature is spending some $45 billion to maintain existing cuts lawmakers have enacted since 2019, with the rest going toward a mix of "compression" — sending money to school districts to replace funds they otherwise would have collected in property taxes, thus lowering tax rates — and raising the state's homestead exemption, or the amount of a home's value that can't be taxed to pay for public schools. A chunk of the money will also go toward tax cuts for businesses. About $3 billion of the property tax relief will come from money lawmakers had originally planned to spend on border security. The team of five senators and five House members who hammered out the final budget draft diverted nearly half of the $6.5 billion set aside for the state's border clampdown in earlier versions, marking one of the biggest eleventh-hour budget changes. It was a reflection of a monthslong decrease in illegal border crossings and the billions that could be coming to Texas under a tentative federal plan to reimburse states for their immigration enforcement efforts under the Biden administration. Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the spending plan is a "responsible, balanced budget that falls within all constitutional and statutory spending limits and meets the needs of our rapidly growing state." "The Texas economy is the envy of the nation, and the budget will secure our state's prosperity for generations to come," Huffman, the Senate's lead budget writer, said on the floor Saturday. "We have leveraged our state surplus over several sessions to make targeted, one-time investments without burdening future budgets." Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood and Huffman's counterpart in the House, said the budget "prioritizes public education, tax relief, public safety, infrastructure and improving taxpayer services for individuals and businesses." The House and Senate have been largely aligned on budget matters this session. Each chamber approved plans earlier this year that spent similar amounts overall and lined up on big-ticket items including how much money to put toward school vouchers, property tax cuts and water infrastructure. Much of the fine print — outlining how that money would be used — was worked out in separate bills. Among the marquee items is an $8.5 billion boost for Texas' public schools, the product of weeks of negotiations between the chambers. The funding package, known as House Bill 2, provides extra money for teacher and staff pay raises, educator preparation, special education, safety requirements and early childhood learning. Another $1 billion in the budget is set aside for a school voucher program that will allow families to use public money to fund their children's private school tuition or pay for a range of school-related expenses. Abbott has already signed the voucher bill into law and has said he will approve the school funding bill. "We passed historic policies for the nearly 6 million students across Texas, but this is where we bring those policies to life," Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe and chair of the Senate Education Committee, said of the state budget, known as Senate Bill 1. "Without SB 1, those reforms are just words on paper. This budget turns our promises into action and gives lasting weight to our priorities." Shannon Halbrook, a fiscal policy expert at the left-leaning think tank Every Texan, said the budget contains "some things that we consider wins with an asterisk." "We're definitely happy that they're investing more into public education," Halbrook said. "It's not quite the way we would have preferred for them to do it. For example, we've consistently advocated for increasing the basic allotment, because it's a really simple way to provide additional funding for schools across the board. Instead, HB 2 chooses to kind of do it in a much more complicated, convoluted way." More than 70% of the budget is reserved for education and health and human services, the latter of which includes Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage for children from low-income households that make too much to qualify for Medicaid. One lingering uncertainty was how much the state would hike pay for personal care "community attendants," who are paid through the Medicaid program to help patients with tasks such as laundry, errands, grooming, eating and medication. The House had proposed increasing their base wage to more than $14 an hour, nearly $2 more than the Senate's proposal. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican and the chamber's lead health care budget writer, said the issue amounted to "one of the most contentious parts" of her section of the budget. In the end, the chambers agreed to meet in the middle, spending nearly $1 billion in general revenue to hike the attendants' base pay to $13 an hour. Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, said the attendants fulfill a critical function caring for vulnerable Texans, and even with the pay raises, "we have not gotten anywhere near where we need to be." But, she acknowledged, "we did get something." "This is the Legislature's budget. It doesn't have everything in it we want," said Howard, a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee. "That's the whole point of why we're here. It's a compromise with the Senate … And any compromise doesn't include everything we fought for in the House." The budget also puts some $10 billion toward the state's energy, water and broadband infrastructure. That includes $5 billion to double the Texas Energy Fund, a low-interest taxpayer-funded loan program meant to incentivize the development of gas-fueled power plants. Lawmakers are also putting $2.5 billion into the Texas Water Fund as part of the supplemental budget for the current spending cycle. The fund is used to pay for new water supply projects — such as desalination — repairing old water infrastructure, conservation and flood mitigation projects. In November, voters will be asked to approve a proposal to allot $1 billion a year starting in 2027— $20 billion in total — until 2047 to secure the state's water supply. Disclosure: Every Texan has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas Legislature approves $338 billion two-year spending plan with a focus on property tax relief
Texas lawmakers signed off Saturday on a $338 billion two-year spending plan that directs billions toward hiking teacher pay, cutting property taxes and shoring up the state's water infrastructure, after House and Senate budget writers ironed out their differences and won approval from both chambers on their final draft. The budget now heads to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who is expected to verify there is enough revenue to cover the Legislature's planned spending — the last step before the 1,056-page bill reaches Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The spending plan doles out the money to run the state's business for the next two years, from September through the end of August 2027. It includes the underlying funding for some of the biggest bills passed this session, much of it paid for with general revenue, Texas' main source of taxpayer funds used to cover core services. Lawmakers approved $149 billion in general revenue spending, with the rest drawn from federal funds and other state revenue earmarked for specific uses. The budget's $338 billion price tag is nearly $17 billion more than what lawmakers budgeted two years ago, about a 5% increase. However, the Legislature is expected to approve additional spending for the current cycle — which runs through the end of August — in what is known as the supplemental budget, lessening the year-to-year increase. A large chunk of the budget — more than one out of every seven dollars — is devoted to maintaining and providing new property tax cuts, a tab that has grown to $51 billion. For the last several years, lawmakers have tried to rein in Texans' property tax bills by sending billions of dollars to school districts to reduce how much in property taxes they collect from homeowners and businesses. The state does not collect property taxes; its coffers are filled through a combination of sources that include sales tax, taxes on oil and gas production, and franchise taxes on businesses. With the help of a projected $24 billion budget surplus, the Legislature is spending some $45 billion to maintain existing cuts lawmakers have enacted since 2019, with the rest going toward a mix of 'compression' — sending money to school districts to replace funds they otherwise would have collected in property taxes, thus lowering tax rates — and raising the state's homestead exemption, or the amount of a home's value that can't be taxed to pay for public schools. A chunk of the money will also go toward tax cuts for businesses. About $3 billion of the property tax relief will come from money lawmakers had originally planned to spend on border security. The team of five senators and five House members who hammered out the final budget draft diverted nearly half of the $6.5 billion set aside for the state's border clampdown in earlier versions, marking one of the biggest eleventh-hour budget changes. It was a reflection of a monthslong decrease in illegal border crossings and the billions that could be coming to Texas under a tentative federal plan to reimburse states for their immigration enforcement efforts under the Biden administration. Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the spending plan is a 'responsible, balanced budget that falls within all constitutional and statutory spending limits and meets the needs of our rapidly growing state.' 'The Texas economy is the envy of the nation, and the budget will secure our state's prosperity for generations to come,' Huffman, the Senate's lead budget writer, said on the floor Saturday. 'We have leveraged our state surplus over several sessions to make targeted, one-time investments without burdening future budgets.' Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood and Huffman's counterpart in the House, said the budget 'prioritizes public education, tax relief, public safety, infrastructure and improving taxpayer services for individuals and businesses.' The House and Senate have been largely aligned on budget matters this session. Each chamber approved plans earlier this year that spent similar amounts overall and lined up on big-ticket items including how much money to put toward school vouchers, property tax cuts and water infrastructure. Much of the fine print — outlining how that money would be used — was worked out in separate bills. Among the marquee items is an $8.5 billion boost for Texas' public schools, the product of weeks of negotiations between the chambers. The funding package, known as House Bill 2, provides extra money for teacher and staff pay raises, educator preparation, special education, safety requirements and early childhood learning. Another $1 billion in the budget is set aside for a school voucher program that will allow families to use public money to fund their children's private school tuition or pay for a range of school-related expenses. Abbott has already signed the voucher bill into law and has said he will approve the school funding bill. 'We passed historic policies for the nearly 6 million students across Texas, but this is where we bring those policies to life,' Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe and chair of the Senate Education Committee, said of the state budget, known as Senate Bill 1. 'Without SB 1, those reforms are just words on paper. This budget turns our promises into action and gives lasting weight to our priorities.' Shannon Halbrook, a fiscal policy expert at the left-leaning think tank Every Texan, said the budget contains 'some things that we consider wins with an asterisk.' 'We're definitely happy that they're investing more into public education,' Halbrook said. 'It's not quite the way we would have preferred for them to do it. For example, we've consistently advocated for increasing the basic allotment, because it's a really simple way to provide additional funding for schools across the board. Instead, HB 2 chooses to kind of do it in a much more complicated, convoluted way.' More than 70% of the budget is reserved for education and health and human services, the latter of which includes Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage for children from low-income households that make too much to qualify for Medicaid. One lingering uncertainty was how much the state would hike pay for personal care 'community attendants,' who are paid through the Medicaid program to help patients with tasks such as laundry, errands, grooming, eating and medication. The House had proposed increasing their base wage to more than $14 an hour, nearly $2 more than the Senate's proposal. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican and the chamber's lead health care budget writer, said the issue amounted to 'one of the most contentious parts' of her section of the budget. In the end, the chambers agreed to meet in the middle, spending nearly $1 billion in general revenue to hike the attendants' base pay to $13 an hour. Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, said the attendants fulfill a critical function caring for vulnerable Texans, and even with the pay raises, 'we have not gotten anywhere near where we need to be.' But, she acknowledged, 'we did get something.' 'This is the Legislature's budget. It doesn't have everything in it we want,' said Howard, a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee. 'That's the whole point of why we're here. It's a compromise with the Senate … And any compromise doesn't include everything we fought for in the House.' The budget also puts some $10 billion toward the state's energy, water and broadband infrastructure. That includes $5 billion to double the Texas Energy Fund, a low-interest taxpayer-funded loan program meant to incentivize the development of gas-fueled power plants. Lawmakers are also putting $2.5 billion into the Texas Water Fund as part of the supplemental budget for the current spending cycle. The fund is used to pay for new water supply projects — such as desalination — repairing old water infrastructure, conservation and flood mitigation projects. In November, voters will be asked to approve a proposal to allot $1 billion a year starting in 2027— $20 billion in total — until 2047 to secure the state's water supply. Disclosure: Every Texan has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Wall Street Journal
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
New York, SALT and the ‘Donor State' Myth
In his May 17 letter 'Why I Won't Give In on the SALT Deduction,' Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) writes that 'New York is a donor state, receiving less money back than it sends to the federal government in tax revenue.' That hasn't been true for the four most recent years for which data are available. Thanks to Covid spending, New York's comptroller has reported receiving more money from Washington than the state's taxpayers have given in fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. As Matthew Schoenfeld wrote in these pages in 2020, the claim that New York is a donor state is based on including such sums as military pay and Social Security retiree benefits while excluding things like the tax exemption for municipal bonds—all of which make blue states look more like 'donors' than they really are. New York's state government spends twice as much as Florida's does, despite the latter having more residents. No state has abused ObamaCare Medicaid expansion to the extent New York has. The healthcare program that is supposed to be for poor children and the disabled covers 44% of New York residents, about half of whom are able-bodied, working-age adults, and about a third of whom are likely ineligible for the program. If anything, New York should be more of a 'donor' because the federal government should stop giving it billions of dollars in matching funds for enrolling able-bodied, working-age adults in Medicaid.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
King approves appointment of new HM Comptroller in Guernsey
The King has approved the appointment of Crown Advocate Hilary Pullum as His Majesty's Comptroller in her new role Ms Pullman will provide legal services and advice for the Crown, the States of Guernsey, the States of Alderney and the Chief Please of Sark. Ms Pullum succeeds Robert Tittering KC who has retired after almost nine years in the role. She said: ''Having served the Bailiwick as one of the lawyers within the Chambers of the Law Officers of the Crown since 2007, it is a privilege to be appointed as His Majesty's Comptroller and I will look forward to continuing to serve the Bailiwick in this post." Ms Pullum graduated with a law degree from the University of Wales in 1999, before qualifying as a solicitor in then specialised as an aerospace lawyer in London, providing regulatory advice and undertaking multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitration. The Lieutenant-Governor, Lt Gen Richard Cripwell, said he was "delighted" the role was to be filled by a "candidate with the expertise and experience of Crown Advocate Pullum"."The role of His Majesty's Comptroller is central to the operation of the Royal Court and therefore to the Bailiwick itself," he said."I wish her every success."Crown Advocate Pullum will be sworn in as His Majesty's Comptroller on Tuesday 26 August, when she will also become a King's Counsel (KC).
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tarrant County schools, cities urge appraisal district changes, say millions at risk
Tarrant County school districts and city leaders warned lawmakers of the negative effects of property reappraisals not being done annually during a recent subcommittee hearing in Austin. The comments follow the Tarrant Appraisal District's July 2024 vote to appraise properties every other year rather than annually. The board also approved a 5% 'threshold' on market value increases. The lid on increases could exceed 5% — up to 10% — if the appraisal district shows clear evidence that a home's value is higher. Rep. Chris Turner, an Grand Prairie Democrat, filed a pair of bills that would reverse the policies. An April 3 hearing drew officials from the the cities of Fort Worth, Arlington and Burleson, and the Arlington, Castleberry, Hurst-Euless-Bedford and Mansfield school districts. 'If property values are not updated consistently — annually — homeowners and businesses in rapidly declining areas may shoulder a disproportionate burden of the tax burden, while others benefit from outdated and below market valuations,' Turner said. 'These uneven practices undermine the principle of uniform and equal taxation, a core requirement of the Texas constitution.' Turner also cautioned that school districts 'rely on accurate property values to receive proper state funding.' If an appraisal district undervalues a property, a district could fail the Comptroller's property value study for school funding, Turner said. 'Failing the property value study – the PVS – can have severe consequences,' Turner said. 'The district may lose critical state funding, forcing it to make up a difference through higher local tax rates or cuts to essential services like teacher salaries, classroom resources and facility maintenance.' The legislation was left pending in the House's subcommittee on Property Tax Appraisals and awaits approval from the full House Ways and Means committee. If advanced, it must pass through the full House and Senate. Castleberry Superintendent Renee Smith-Faulkner and other school and district officials who attended spoke in support of House Bill 2786, which says appraisals must be done yearly in appraisal districts in counties with 75,000 or more people. North Texas school and city representatives warned of millions in possible financial losses without annual reappraisals. Section 23.01 of the Texas tax code states that 'all taxable property is appraised at its market value as of January 1.' Elsewhere, the code states that 'market value' means the price the property would sell for 'under prevailing market conditions.' 'This legislation is crucial for ensuring schools do not lose funding that they already rightfully deserve and have already earned through enrollment and weighted funding,' Smith-Faulkner said. Much of the legislative session so far has focused on education, as separate bills related to funding schools make their way through the Legislature. 'You've devoted much of this session to education generally and school finance specifically, and you're well aware of the school funding issues that districts are dealing with today,' said Justin Chapa, president of the Arlington school board. 'It makes little sense to allow appraisal districts to pass plans that inevitably and in some cases immediately and immensely reduce any funding increases that come from this session.' Christianne Simmons, the city of Fort Worth's chief transformation officer, said the city is projected to loose $30 million to $40 million in its budget without annual reappraisals. 'It's really, truly difficult to balance the real needs of a growing city when the tax base does not accurately affect market conditions,' Simmons said. 'So that revenue gap will force us to either cut core services or raise the tax rate, and those are really not ideal options for us.' Ethan Klos with the city of Arlington said its budget could see $9 million to $15 million in cuts if the city didn't raise taxes. He also warned of the negative impact appraisals that aren't done annually could have on businesses. Tarrant Appraisal District Board Member Fred Campos was the only member of the appraisal board to speak at the hearing. He told lawmakers he supports the bill. The other bill considered on April 3, House Bill 3235, clarifies existing law to make sure homestead appraisal caps are applied consistently across the state. According to the bill, appraisal increases are capped at the lesser of a property's market value as of its most recent appraisal, or at 110% of a property's appraised value for the preceding year plus the market value of any new improvements. The Tarrant Appraisal District's move to lower the 'homestead appraisal cap essentially to 5%' is 'wholly inconsistent with state law and the constitution,' Turner said. Any change to an appraisal cap falls under the purview of the Texas Legislature not individual appraisal districts, Turner said. 'Allowing appraisal districts to set their own caps creates a patchwork system of property tax laws where homeowners in different parts of the state are subject to different appraisal cap policies' Turner said. 'This undermines the constitutional principle of fairness and equal taxation across the state.' Most of the North Texas officials did not testify on the second bill, with the exception of representatives from the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington and the Arlington school district. All supported the proposal. Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Rick Barnes, a voting member on the appraisal board who took office after the July 2024 policy changes were made, did not immediately return a request for comment. Board member Wendy Burgess, who was tax assessor-collector in 2024, also did not immediately return emails seeking comment. A TAD spokesperson said TAD Executive Director and Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt was not available for an interview on April 4. In a letter shared with the committee, Barnes said he opposed Turner's two bills. The legislation would not provide property tax relief and would raises taxes for property owners in Tarrant County, the letter reads. 'The TAD Board has worked diligently in response to Tarrant County taxpayers and their overwhelming request for taxpayer reform,' Barnes said in the note. 'These bills can only increase the burden on taxpayers.' Barnes said the school funding model is effectively 'a state property tax' and that the county 'will work in any manner allowable by law to offer relief to the taxpayer.' Turner countered when reading parts of the letter during the committee hearing. The Legislature has worked and is working to provide property tax relief, he said. It's not the job of appraisal districts, appraisal boards or tax assessor collectors to influence tax rates or tax burden, Turner said. 'I would just remind Mr. Barnes of that,' Turner said.
