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 · Senate bill

SB467

SB467 provides a one-year, prorated property-tax exemption for a qualifying home improvement completely destroyed by fire.

Read bill highlights ↓

Official caption: Relating to a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of the appraised value of an improvement to a residence homestead that is completely destroyed by a fire.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Paxton, Zaffirini. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

Report an error ↗

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.

SB467 provides a one-year, prorated property-tax exemption for a qualifying home improvement completely destroyed by fire.
The exempt amount is the improvement’s appraised value for the fire year multiplied by the number of days remaining in that tax year after the fire date, divided by 365.
Owners must apply to the chief appraiser within 180 days after the fire.
Signed June 20, 2025, the act applies to tax years beginning January 1, 2026 or later.

Read the full explanation ↓

What does it do?

SB467 provides a one-year, prorated property-tax exemption for a qualifying home improvement completely destroyed by fire. The improvement must have been a habitable dwelling immediately before the fire and remain uninhabitable for at least 30 days afterward. The exemption covers the qualifying improvement’s appraised value, not an automatic exemption for all land or every kind of damaged property. Final eligibility rules.

The exempt amount is the improvement’s appraised value for the fire year multiplied by the number of days remaining in that tax year after the fire date, divided by 365. It applies only in the year of the fire. This is a reduction in taxable value, not a payment equal to the value of the house; actual tax savings depend on tax rates and the tax calculation. Exemption formula.

Owners must apply to the chief appraiser within 180 days after the fire. The appraiser determines qualification and may rely on appropriate sources, including a county fire marshal or insurance adjuster. If qualification reduces a tax amount already calculated, the assessor must correct the roll and recalculate it. An unpaid mailed bill is corrected; an overpayment already made must be refunded. Application, corrected bills and refunds.

Signed June 20, 2025, the act applies to tax years beginning January 1, 2026 or later. Its voter-approval condition was met: voters approved SJR84 as Proposition 10 on November 4, 2025, confirmed by the November 19 canvass. It is not relief for a 2025 fire under this new section, nor an exemption still awaiting a constitutional vote. History; SJR84; Official election canvass.

What changed along the way?

The introduced bill proposed reappraisal after a building on an owner-occupied homestead was completely destroyed by a casualty, with special tax proration and comptroller guidelines. The Senate substitute replaced that approach with a temporary exemption specifically for destruction by fire, conditioned on a constitutional amendment; the engrossed version retained it. The broader casualty-reappraisal proposal did not become law. Introduced proposal; Senate substitute.

The House substitute added the requirements that the improvement be a habitable dwelling before the fire and stay uninhabitable for at least 30 days. It removed the separate comptroller-guidelines requirement and its September 2026 deadline. These House changes are in the final law. The Senate concurred May 30. Although the stand-alone amendment index has no links, the Senate journal prints the full House substitute as the House amendment; its operative text matches the enrolled act. House substitute; All bill versions; Amendment index; Complete House amendment and concurrence.

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 homeowners can avoid part of the fire-year tax on a destroyed dwelling, including by refund when taxes were already paid. The final law does not require a governor-declared disaster, but it does require complete destruction and the dwelling and duration tests; ordinary repair damage or a non-fire casualty does not qualify under this section. Final scope and relief.

The April 12 introduced, April 20 Senate substitute and May 15 House substitute fiscal notes all leave the cost unquantified. The latest note says lower taxable values can reduce local property-tax revenue and increase state school-finance costs, but future fires, their timing and affected taxing units cannot be predicted. It also notes that the statutory no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax-rate calculations could rise when taxable values fall. That is not an automatic tax-rate increase or a finding of no fiscal cost. Latest fiscal note.

Official sources

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