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Read. Follow. Verify.Texas HB 139 overhauls ad valorem tax rate calculations and repeals specific voter-approval requirements
Last action · August 20, 2025: Referred to Ways & MeansSponsor: Carrie Isaac
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What This Bill Proposed
Texas HB 139 revises the formulas used by taxing units to calculate no-new-revenue and s, removes certain distinct classifications for special taxing units, and repeals several sections of the Tax Code, Education Code, Local Government Code, and Water Code related to tax rate petitions and specific district categories, effective January 1, 2026.
Property owners and local taxing authorities will experience changed calculations for annual limits and revised public notice requirements for proposed tax rates.
- Ad valorem property taxes in Texas are levied by local taxing units such as counties, cities, and school districts based on the appraised value of property. context
- The voter-approval tax rate determines the threshold above which a tax rate adoption requires voter approval at an election. context
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.
Taxing units
Taxing units must calculate no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rates using revised statutory formulas.
Property owners
Property owners are subject to updated public hearing notices and revised tax rate determinations for their local jurisdictions.
Water districts
Water districts must comply with modified budgeting requirements and updated public hearing notice provisions.
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
What changes are made to tax rate calculations?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
3 actions- Aug 20, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Ways & Means
- Aug 20, 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 →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
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Consolidation of Tax Rate Formulas
The bill eliminates distinctions in voter-approval tax rate formulas between special taxing units and other taxing units.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz45Current news / social attention level
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