BILL BACKED BY FORMER TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR, COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND LOCAL LEGISLATORS ADVANCES

By Juan Montoya

The office of   Texas House of Representative Erin Gamez (D-38) has announced that a bill she submitted that requires  title insurance companies to provide property buyers a notice that the property may qualify for one or more residence homestead exemptions from ad valorem taxation has advanced for consideration.

The bill ( HB 3412) also states that title insurance companies may charge a reasonable fee for the service provided and that they must disclose the fee to the buyer. A title insurance company that violates this section is subject to an administrative penalty of not more than $500.

Before former Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre left office January 1, 2025, the Cameron County Commissioners Court on October 8, approved his recommendation that was adopted by then-District 27 Texas Senator Morgan LaMantia and Gamez to push for changes in the Texas State Code in the legislative session that started January 2025.

With notice of HB 3412's advancement in the legislative process and hopefully its eventual passage, the act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Senior homeowners, disabled homeowners, disabled veterans, and military or first responder spouses can claim additional exemptions.

Yzaguirre told commissioners and the issue could be resolved in the home-buying process. 

Currently,  buyers navigate multiple stages – working with a Realtor, securing financing through a lending institution, and closing through a title company. By the time they reach the closing stage, they are overwhelmed with paperwork, and there is no formalized requirement to file for a homestead exemption. As a result, many new homeowners are left unaware of the exemption and face unnecessarily high property taxes.  

"In some cases the new home exemption will save some homeowners of as much as $1,200 from their tax bill," Yzaguirre said. "By making the homestead exemption application a part of the buying process, it will provide tax relief not only to local homeowners, but to tax payers across the state."

The Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office discovered, there were many home owners who – unaware of the either the old or new new tax relief through the exemption – had not applied for the exemption when they purchased their homes to begin with.

As a result of not applying for it at their local county appraisal district, they found out that many local homeowners were not receiving the the tax relief embodied in Senate Bill 2 which increased the exemption to $100,000 of the property's appraised value.

"Some of them were never told that they had to apply for the exemption at the appraisal district when they closed out on their home," said Yzaguirre. "We found that out when we held meetings across the county to help them file for the relief from the tax burden."

Tax office data revealed then that more than 8,000 homeowners in Cameron County had not filed for homestead exemptions, even though documentation show their properties were coded as residential and that they were associated with a mortgage account.

Yzaguirre left office January 1, 2025, but the Cameron County Commissioners Court on October 8, approved his recommendation that they ask LaMantia (now Sen. Adam Hinojosa) and Gamez to push for the changes in the legislative session that starting January 2025. The current tax office new tax assessor-collector Eddie Garcia is also supportive of the changes.