Financial Tools

Legislative and National Trends

Property Tax Cut Push
In our last update, we mentioned the number of state legislatures throughout the country attempting to address the concerns of property owners regarding high property tax bills. With property values continuing to appreciate, don’t expect policy makers to rest with progress made in 2025.
One of the property tax complexities less often mentioned (or championed at least) is that there are two variables to the equation that determines the dollar amount that property owners pay each year. Those variables being the appraised/assessed value and the tax rate/millage.
Lawmakers and the general public tend to focus more on the property valuation side of things (think exemptions, circuit breakers and assessment limits) and less on the tax rates and total collections by the local taxing districts. It is easier this way politically, but it does ignore half of the conversation that needs to be had.  ,
The event and the speaker escape my memory, but I once heard the issue explained in this way. If a property owner is concerned about their high tax bill, the question to ask is if they would expect to sell their property for more than what it is being appraised at by the county/parish.  If so, then the issue is more likely with the tax rate/millage being applied to their property and not the property value.
The below article is a good snapshot of how this issue is playing out in Texas.
Abbott: Lawmakers must rein in local governments’ ability to hike property tax rates | Community Impact

Upcoming Property Tax Deadlines

We are now moving into the part of the property tax calendar where business personal property tax renditions should have been filed, and preliminary value notices are starting to flow out from appraisers and assessors. As each state and local jurisdiction can vary, please make sure to pay close attention to the appeal deadlines and procedures for both personal and real property valuations.  Some appeal deadlines are limited by a specific number of days from notice, while a state like Louisiana has a specific open roll review period set for all property owners.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our property tax team for assistance if you are unsure of your specific appeal deadline or process.

2025 Fiscal Session Updates – Sales Tax

The 2025 fiscal session just wrapped up. While we were expecting numerous additional sales tax changes on top of what was passed in last November’s special session, the primary sales tax bill ended up being the bill used to “clean up” the changes made in the special session. Below are some of the main takeaways.