Monitoring the Session

SB 1633

tax break for rainwater and graywater systems, county’s call

Died in committee

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Donna CampbellRSenate 25

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the authority of a county commissioners court to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation by each taxing unit that taxes the property of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of certain water conservation systems.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

The county votes, every taxing unit follows. Without a voter-approved amendment, nothing.

This bill lets a county commissioners court vote to exempt from property tax the added value a rainwater harvesting or graywater system brings to a person's property. Once a county adopts it, the exemption applies to every taxing unit that taxes that property, not just the county. It starts January 1, 2026, but only if voters approve a matching constitutional amendment; otherwise it does nothing.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on May 20, 2025. Died in the House: never got out of the Ways & Means committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB1633 · 2025-02-25

SOLD BY

Sen. Donna CampbellRSenate 25

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the authority of a county commissioners court to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation by each taxing unit that taxes the property of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of certain water conservation systems.

WHAT IT DOES

The county votes, every taxing unit follows. Without a voter-approved amendment, nothing.

This bill lets a county commissioners court vote to exempt from property tax the added value a rainwater harvesting or graywater system brings to a person's property. Once a county adopts it, the exemption applies to every taxing unit that taxes that property, not just the county. It starts January 1, 2026, but only if voters approve a matching constitutional amendment; otherwise it does nothing.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 26, 2025

Passage of the bill would authorize the commissioners court of a county to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system that would apply to all taxing units that tax the property. As a result, taxable property values could be reduced and the related costs to the Foundation School Fund could be increased through the operation of the school finance formulas.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Received by the Secretary of the Senate
  2. Filed
  3. Read first time
  4. Referred to Local Government
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Vote taken in committee
  10. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  11. Committee report printed and distributed
  12. Co-author authorized
  13. Placed on intent calendar
  14. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  15. Record vote
  16. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  17. Record vote
  18. Three day rule suspended
  19. Record vote
  20. Read 3rd time
  21. Passed
  22. Record vote
  23. Reported engrossed
  24. Received from the Senate
  25. Read first time
  26. Referred to Ways & Means
FILED UNDER

DATA CENTERS, WATER AND THE GRID

THE TEXT

…“attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill gives a property tax break for installing rainwater harvesting or graywater systems, a water-use policy lane.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 25 yea · 6 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · May 20, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Donna Campbell

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Donna Campbell.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

Votes4

Senate May 20, 2025

Yea
25
Nay
6
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 25 (published)
  • Nay: 6 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate May 20, 2025

Yea
25
Nay
6
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Campbell moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 1633 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 25 (published)
  • Nay: 6 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate May 20, 2025

Yea
25
Nay
6
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 25 (published)
  • Nay: 6 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate May 20, 2025

Yea
25
Nay
6
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Campbell moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 1633 at this time on its second reading: SB 1633, Relating to the authority of a county commissioners court to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation by each taxing unit that taxes the property of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of certain water conservation systems. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 25 (published)
  • Nay: 6 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses10
For
8
Against
2
On
0
Names

For

  • Conference of Urban Counties1 registration
  • County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration
  • Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance1 registration
  • Leon County and County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Association of Builders1 registration
  • Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops1 registration
  • Texas chapter US Green Building Council1 registration
  • Travis County Commissioners Court1 registration

Against

  • City of Georgetown1 registration
  • Self1 registration
Sources

10 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 26, 2025

Passage of the bill would authorize the commissioners court of a county to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system that would apply to all taxing units that tax the property. As a result, taxable property values could be reduced and the related costs to the Foundation School Fund could be increased through the operation of the school finance formulas.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Feb 25, 2025

05/23/2025 H Referred to Ways & Means: May 23 2025 10:08AM

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Sarah EckhardtDSenate 14 Royce WestDSenate 23

House committee · Ways & Means · Final status: Died in committee

Senate committee · Local Government · Committee vote 7 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Companion

HB 1256 by Zwiener (identical)

HB 3637 by Troxclair (identical)

Enabling legislation for SJR 60.

Subjects

County Government--General

Taxation--Property-Appraisals & Appraisal Districts

Taxation--Property-Exemptions

Water--Conservation (I097L)

Water--General

Text

The text as introduced · 293 words

89R1570 MLH-F

By: Campbell
S.B. No. 1633

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a county commissioners court to adopt

an exemption from ad valorem taxation by each taxing unit that taxes

the property of the portion of the appraised value of a person's

property that is attributable to the installation in or on the

property of certain water conservation systems.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Tax Code, is amended by

adding Section 11.325 to read as follows:

Sec. 11.325. WATER CONSERVATION SYSTEMS. (a) In this

section, "graywater" has the meaning assigned by Section 341.039,

Health and Safety Code.

(b) The commissioners court of a county by order may adopt

an exemption from taxation of the portion of the appraised value of

a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or

on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system. An

exemption adopted by a commissioners court under this section

applies to the taxation of property by each taxing unit that taxes

the property.

SECTION 2. This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed

for a tax year beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026, but only

if the constitutional amendment to authorize the commissioners

court of a county to exempt from ad valorem taxation by each

political subdivision that taxes the property the portion of the

assessed value of a person's property that is attributable to the

installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or

graywater system is approved by the voters. If that amendment is

not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.