TEXAS, USA — Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for a second special session and wants lawmakers to only focus on passing some sort of property tax relief.
Rep. Hugh Shine of District 55, which covers much of Bell County, said it is clear Texans will see some sort of significant relief based on the plans lawmakers in both chambers are looking at.
However, it's going to boil down to how they deliver that relief.
"Looking at the different proposals, taxpayers are going to get a pretty significant reduction in property tax, by whatever we do," he said. "It's just a major difference of opinion between the House and the Senate of what we should do."
The two different approaches have two different impacts on taxpayers.
Dr. Rob Tennant, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University Central Texas said one's not technically better than the other.
"There's just solutions that have different costs and benefits," he explained. "The senate approach would provide more benefit to the homeowners that do not have the most expensive homes percentage wise in the state of Texas. Whereas the other may have more dollar impact and in a just evenly distributed way."
Starting Tuesday, Abbott called the next special session to give lawmakers more time to compromise on a relief plan. On the agenda: Lasting property tax rate cuts and eliminating a property tax in the state.
Shine said the latter isn't happening, at least not this special session.
"To eliminate property tax period is going to be extremely difficult because you got to make it up somewhere," he explained.
Instead, Shine said they need to focus on what can provide significant relief to Texans sooner.
"What I see happening this special session is some form of business exemptions, exemptions for homesteads and compression on the maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate for school districts," Shine said.
Conversations will start back Wednesday as the House and Senate will gavel in at 11 a.m.
Shine told 6 News there is a bill that's been drafted and will be submitted in a committee Wednesday as lawmakers keep trying different ways to provide relief.