The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Texas requires taxing units and school districts to mail property tax notices and include inflation and population growth comparisons
Last action · August 26, 2025: Motion withdrawnSponsors: Morgan Meyer and 11 others
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 17 requires school districts, water districts, and other taxing units to mail property tax and budget notices directly to property owners rather than relying solely on newspaper publication. The bill mandates that these notices include standardized disclosures comparing proposed tax collections against prior years, adjusted for inflation and local population or student enrollment growth.
Property owners will directly receive mailed notices detailing how proposed tax collections compare to inflation and population adjustments, and face new statutory formulas determining whether a taxing unit's proposed rate requires voter approval or triggers taxpayer injunction rights.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
property owners
school districts
School districts must change their notice procedures to mail budget and tax rate notices directly to property owners and incorporate new enrollment and inflation comparison disclosures.
taxing units
Taxing units are required to mail public hearing notices directly to property owners, post notices on their website home pages, and include statutory inflation and population adjustment statements.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will property owners receive notice of proposed property tax rate increases?
What new information must be included in property tax notices?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Withdrawn.
Procedural history
40 actions- Aug 26, 2025SenateMotion withdrawn
- Aug 26, 2025SenateMotion to suspend regular order of business
- Aug 26, 2025SenateOrdered not printed
- Aug 26, 2025SenatePrinting rule suspended
- Aug 26, 2025SenateCommitteeReported favorably w/o amendments
- Aug 26, 2025SenateVote taken in committee
Show 34 earlier actions
- Aug 26, 2025SenateTestimony taken in committee
- Aug 26, 2025SenateConsidered in public hearing
- Aug 26, 2025SenateScheduled for public hearing on . . .
- Aug 26, 2025SenatePosting rule suspended
- Aug 26, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Local Government
- Aug 26, 2025SenateIntroducedRead first time
- Aug 26, 2025SenateReceived from the House
- Aug 26, 2025SenateCo-sponsor authorized
- Aug 25, 2025HouseReported engrossed
- Aug 25, 2025HouseReason for vote recorded in Journal
- Aug 25, 2025HouseStatement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorRecord vote (RV#62)
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorPassed
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorRead 3rd time
- Aug 25, 2025HouseStatement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorRecord vote (RV#51)
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorPassed to engrossment
- Aug 25, 2025HouseStatement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorRecord vote (RV#50)
- Aug 25, 2025HouseAmendment fails of adoption (1-Bernal)
- Aug 25, 2025HousePoint of order withdrawn (Article III, Section 40)
- Aug 25, 2025HouseFloorRead 2nd time
- Aug 25, 2025HousePlaced on Major State Calendar
- Aug 24, 2025HouseConsidered in Calendars
- Aug 24, 2025HouseCommittee report sent to Calendars
- Aug 22, 2025HouseCommittee report distributed
- Aug 22, 2025HouseComte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- Aug 22, 2025HouseCommitteeReported favorably w/o amendment(s)
- Aug 22, 2025HouseTestimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- Aug 22, 2025HouseConsidered in public hearing
- Aug 22, 2025HouseScheduled for public hearing on . . .
- Aug 18, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Ways & Means
- Aug 18, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time
- Aug 15, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Voting Record
HB 17 was passed
Total
144
- Yes
- 80
- No
- 46
- Present
- 0
- Not voting
- 7
- Abstain
- 0
- Other positions
- 11
How they voted (144)
120 more members
Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 7 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift from Publication to Direct Mail Notice
The legislation moves local taxing authorities away from relying solely on newspaper publication for tax rate hearings, mandating direct mail delivery to property owners.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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