A substantial drain on future state resources may continue to be the program of school property tax abatements known as “Chapter 313,” after its section in the Tax Code.
This colossal giveaway strains the rest of General Revenue services – higher education, health and human services, and public safety – to make up for foregone local school taxes.
The state budget fills in gaps in school taxes created by these special interest deals by maintaining funding for a district’s state formula aid, as if the abated value of the business property did not exist. If the property were instead taxed at its full value, local tax revenue would increase, reducing the need for state aid and allowing scarce resources to be redirected to other uses or to increasing state support for our schools.
Read the full testimony and analysis here.