2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB247

HB247 exempts qualifying added real-property value from property taxation when border-security infrastructure or related improvements are installed in a county bordering Mexico.

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Official caption: Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the amount of the appraised value of real property located in certain counties that arises from the installation or construction on the property of border security infrastructure and related improvements and to the consideration of the price paid by certain governmental entities for a parcel of or easement in real property purchased for the purpose of installing or constructing such infrastructure when appraising other real property.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Guillen. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB247 exempts qualifying added real-property value from property taxation when border-security infrastructure or related improvements are installed in a county bordering Mexico.
The exemption covers the amount of appraised value arising from an improvement installed or constructed under either a qualifying written agreement between the owner and Texas or the United States, or a recorded easement granted by the owner to one of those governments for the specified border-security purpose.
“Border security infrastructure” includes walls, barriers, fences, roads, trenches, apparatus and other improvements designed or adapted to surveil or impede people or objects crossing the Texas–Mexico border.
The owner must apply under the exemption application rules.

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What does it do?

HB247 exempts qualifying added real-property value from property taxation when border-security infrastructure or related improvements are installed in a county bordering Mexico. Its January 1, 2026 effective date depended on approval of the constitutional amendment proposed by HJR34. The official constitution records that amendment’s addition on November 4, 2025, and the codified exemption records January 1, 2026 as its effective date. The law applies to tax years beginning on or after that date. Final act, Sections 4 and 6 · HJR34 · Constitution, Article VIII, Section 1-y · Tax Code Section 11.38

The exemption covers the amount of appraised value arising from an improvement installed or constructed under either a qualifying written agreement between the owner and Texas or the United States, or a recorded easement granted by the owner to one of those governments for the specified border-security purpose. It is not a blanket exemption for every acre or every improvement on a participating owner’s property. Section 1

“Border security infrastructure” includes walls, barriers, fences, roads, trenches, apparatus and other improvements designed or adapted to surveil or impede people or objects crossing the Texas–Mexico border. A qualifying agreement may include additional improvements that are not themselves border-security infrastructure; the exemption is not limited to the wall or fence alone when other improvements meet the agreement-based provision. Section 11.38(b)–(c)

The owner must apply under the exemption application rules. Once allowed, the exemption ordinarily continues without an annual claim until ownership or qualification changes, subject to the chief appraiser’s authority to request a new application under the statute. A separate provision bars the appraiser from using the price Texas or the United States paid for qualifying border-county land or an easement for border-security construction when determining real-property market value. That protects appraisals from relying on those particular government purchase prices; it does not freeze all nearby values. Final act, Sections 2–3 · Application rules · Appraisal rule

What changed along the way?

The filed bill proposed separate exemptions for added property value, the infrastructure itself and land dedicated by recorded easement. It also contained an express termination provision and directed the comptroller, assisted by the Facilities Commission, to develop administrative guidelines. Its infrastructure definition referred to crossings outside land ports of entry and included temporary or permanent installations. It proposed a September 1, 2025 effective date. Filed text

The House committee substitute replaced that structure with the final border-county, qualifying-agreement-or-easement framework and its exemption for value arising from qualifying improvements. It expressly allowed agreements to cover related non-border-security improvements, added the government-purchase-price appraisal restriction, added a tax-year application clause and a code-harmonization instruction, and made effectiveness January 1, 2026 contingent on voter approval. The filed version’s separate whole-land exemption and guideline mandate are not in the final act. House substitute

The House-passed, Senate committee and enrolled texts retain the substitute’s substantive provisions. The official amendment index lists no separate floor amendments. The House passed HB247 May 6 by 134–13, with two present but not voting; the Senate passed it May 21 by 23–8. The governor signed it June 20, 2025, before the required constitutional vote. House-passed text · Senate report · Amendment index · Final certificates · Official history

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Qualifying property owners may avoid additional property tax attributable to improvements covered by the exemption. Owners whose appraisals might otherwise use the specified government acquisition prices may also benefit from the appraisal restriction. The act does not guarantee a particular owner’s dollar savings, require an owner to sign an agreement, or itself pay the owner for an easement. Final act

The Legislative Budget Board expected reduced taxable value and school-district property-tax revenue, with some increased state school-finance costs, but no significant state fiscal implication. For cities, counties and special districts, the fiscal note explains a tradeoff: without higher rates, levies could fall; if rates rise, some loss could be offset through higher levies on nonexempt property and smaller net savings on exempt property. These are possible fiscal effects, not a statement that every affected jurisdiction raised its rate. The note provides no statewide dollar estimate of the exemption’s cost. Latest posted fiscal note, May 17

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.