Texans are heading to the polls on May 7 to decide two constitutional amendments. The deadline to register to vote in the election is April 7.
The Texas State Legislature referred two measures to statewide ballots during the second and third special legislative sessions of 2021. The ballot measures were the first referred to an even-numbered year ballot since 2014.
Proposition 1 would amend the state constitution to authorize the state legislature to reduce the property tax limit for school maintenance and operations taxes imposed on the homesteads of elderly or disabled residents to reflect any tax rate reduction enacted by law from the preceding tax year. In 2019, the Texas State Legislature passed House Bill 3, which provided school maintenance and operations tax rate changes. However, the rate reduction did not apply to the homesteads of elderly or disabled residents. The implementing legislation, Senate Bill 12, which would extend the 2019 reduction, was also passed during the second special legislative session in 2021. Proposition 1 and SB 12 were modeled after a 2007 constitutional amendment and 2006 property tax reduction.
