SB2520

For that qualifying following year, the ceiling is the lesser of: (1) the ceiling calculated under Tax Code 11.26(a-10); or (2) the school district’s tax on the homestead for that year, calculated without applying the tax-ceiling limitation. The second figure is not a calculation without all exemptions—it disregards the tax-increase ceiling. The rule does not reset every older or disabled homeowner’s ceiling every year. Final law, new section 11.26(a-11).

The existing subsection (a-10) calculation takes account of changes in the district’s compressed tax rate, qualifying improvements and increases in the applicable homestead exemptions. Existing subsection (a) already addressed a lower school-tax amount in the year after first qualifying during a year; the new provision expressly coordinates the two calculations. This is a ceiling on school-district taxes, not a freeze on appraised property value or every tax on the bill. Existing rules allowing an adjustment for certain improvements and governing continued eligibility remain. Existing school-tax ceiling rules, subsections (a), (a-10), (b) and (c); Final law; Age-65-or-disabled exemption, section 11.13(c).

The Senate substitute made the section 11.13(c) eligibility and following-year scope explicit, specified the subsection (a-10) comparison and the current-year tax calculated without the ceiling, and restricted application to tax years beginning on or after the effective date. It removed the introduced statement that the change was intended only to clarify existing law. The Senate committee, Senate-passed, House committee and final operative texts matched; the amendment index lists no separate amendments. Do not treat the introduced clarification language as an enacted command to recalculate all earlier tax years. Introduced; Senate substitute; All versions; Amendment index; Final law.

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

Qualifying homeowners may have a lower protected school-tax ceiling when the following year’s tax calculated without the ceiling is below the subsection (a-10) amount. Savings depend on the property’s facts and calculations; the act sets no flat dollar reduction. The latest fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal implication. It says differences in how appraisal districts had applied existing law could affect taxable values and state school-finance formulas, but those effects are unlikely to be significant. Its local-impact section specifies school districts, not all local taxing units. It provides no dollar estimate or assurance of a particular taxpayer’s refund. April 27 latest fiscal note; Earlier fiscal note; Final law.