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New House bill could help bring down property taxes if signed into law

9 months 4 weeks 8 hours ago Wednesday, May 31 2023 May 31, 2023 May 31, 2023 6:40 PM May 31, 2023 in News - Local

The Texas House has passed the Property Tax Relief Bill, but it's not official just yet.

The Cameron County tax assessor says if the bill is signed into law, it could help bring down high property taxes, but it wouldn't go into effect until next year.

Some Cameron County residents say the property taxes are something they can't afford, and they are hoping change comes soon.

"It's not going to stop. You have to pay taxes, right?" Brownsville resident Luis Moreno said.

Moreno says he's paying a lot more this year than in the past, and he's worried about keeping up with the payments.

"Property tax keeps going up, and I don't know why. It's just the same house, same everything, but every year it's going up, it's going up, it's going up, and it's just hard to keep up," Moreno said. "With my son going to school, utility bills going up, and everything goes up."

Cameron County Tax Assessor Tony Yzaguirre has acknowledged the higher property values and says it's because of an inclining market.

"Values continue to go up for X amount of reasons. A lot of organizations are blaming SpaceX, but it's not only SpaceX, there are a lot of businesses coming to the area," Yzaguirre said.

The Texas House on Monday passed a bill that would use more than $12 billion to reduce school property taxes across the state. Yzaguirre says he hopes the bill passes the Senate and makes it way to the governor's desk.

"We all know that the highest taxes that we all pay for are the school districts. School districts are the highest that the taxpayer pays on," Yzaguirre says. "I think it was well overdue because property values continue to increase. Tax rates continue to increase. More demands of service from school districts and jurisdictions within the counties throughout Texas continue to increase."

For those with delinquent taxes from last year, will have until June 30 to pay or get a payment plan to avoid those added collection fees.

The tax assessor's office says there is about $7 million in delinquent taxes still owed from last year.

To make payments or sign up for a payment plan, visit the Cameron County tax offices.

Watch the video above for the full story.

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