Property Tax Relief

Texas Fair Share Property Taxes

Tax relief should benefit the people living on our streets, not just those in corporate boardrooms. I’m fighting to keep homes like this affordable for the families who have built our community.

HB 130: The Helen Kerwin "Tax Shift" vs. The Oldham Fair-Share Plan

The Problem: The HB 130 "Tax Shift"

Filed in the 89th Legislature, HB 130 (Rep. Helen Kerwin) proposes a radical overhaul of how we fund our schools. While advertised as property tax relief, it is actually a massive tax shift that places the burden of funding our schools onto the backs of working families and seniors.

The Pitfalls of HB 130:

  • The Hidden "Grocery Tax": It replaces local school property taxes with a 6.72% Value-Added Tax (VAT). This is a hidden tax on every step of production and service. You’ll see it reflected in higher prices for groceries, gas, and everyday essentials.

  • A Corporate Giveaway: By eliminating school M&O taxes, out-of-state industrial giants and billionaires get a permanent tax break, while you pay more at the checkout counter.

  • The School Funding Cliff: HB 130 strips local communities of their power to fund their schools. Instead, our children’s education will depend on a volatile "consumption tax" controlled by politicians in Austin.

  • Red Tape for Small Business: Local shops in Johnson and Somervell counties will face a mountain of new paperwork to calculate and collect this complicated new tax.

The Solution: The Oldham
"Fair-Share" Alternatives

We don't need a shell game; we need a system that is fair, stable, and keeps our promises to Texans. My plan focuses on lowering your burden by making the system work for people, not just corporations.

1. Protect the Freeze for Seniors & Homeowners

  • Keep What Works: I will fight to maintain existing homestead exemptions and the tax freeze for seniors on fixed incomes. We should not trade a stable tax cap for a "grocery tax" that rises every year.

2. Stop the Private School Voucher Drain

  • Repeal the TEFA Act: Our public tax dollars belong in public schools. I will work to repeal the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), which currently drain billions away from our local classrooms to fund private school tuition.

3. Use the Surplus for People, Not Politics

  • School Funding: Use our state's record budget surplus to increase the Basic Allotment per student, ensuring our teachers get the raises they deserve without raising your taxes.

  • Mental Health Reform: Instead of using county jails as mental health wards, we must use surplus funds to rebuild our MHMR program and create local crisis centers.

4. Expand Healthcare & Bring Our Taxes Home

  • Expand Medicaid: Texas is leaving billions of our own federal tax dollars on the table. By expanding Medicaid, we provide basic health services to working Texans and reduce the "uncompensated care" costs that currently drive up your local hospital district taxes.

5. Close the Corporate Appraisal Gap

  • Fair Appraisals: While your home is appraised at market value, many massive industrial properties use loopholes to stay undervalued. By requiring sales price disclosure for large commercial properties, we ensure they pay their fair share—lowering the burden for everyone else.

Bottom Line

The choice is simple: Do we want a new tax on everything you buy to fund a corporate giveaway? Or do we want to close loopholes and use our surplus wisely to fund our schools and hospitals?

I’m running to make Texas fair again.