Monitoring the Session

SB 2541

Bettencourt’s bill repealing the unused increment rate

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

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 repeal of provisions providing for the calculation of an unused increment rate and the use of that rate in calculating certain other ad valorem tax rates.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

No more banking unused room under the voter-approval cap.

The bill removes the 'unused increment rate,' which lets cities, counties and other local taxing units bank unused room under the yearly voter-approval cap and add it to later years' rates. It touches every local taxing unit that sets a property tax rate, including water districts, along with the officials who calculate those rates. Starting with the 2026 tax year, local governments can no longer use past years' unused room to push their rate above the normal cap without an election.

Labels

Labels: ZOMBIE BILL. Died 2 times: 88R SB 1997 (Died in committee) and this bill (Did not pass). Checked against 88R only.BACK FROM THE DEAD. Same text as a bill filed before that died: 88R SB 1997 (Died in committee). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on May 6, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the Ways & Means committee 8-4, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB2541 · 2025-03-13

SOLD BY

ITEM

relating to the repeal of provisions providing for the calculation of an unused increment rate and the use of that rate in calculating certain other ad valorem tax rates.

WHAT IT DOES

No more banking unused room under the voter-approval cap.

The bill removes the 'unused increment rate,' which lets cities, counties and other local taxing units bank unused room under the yearly voter-approval cap and add it to later years' rates. It touches every local taxing unit that sets a property tax rate, including water districts, along with the officials who calculate those rates. Starting with the 2026 tax year, local governments can no longer use past years' unused room to push their rate above the normal cap without an election.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · April 27, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

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. Testimony taken in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Vote taken in committee
  11. Reported favorably as substituted
  12. Committee report printed and distributed
  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
  27. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  28. Considered in public hearing
  29. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  30. Left pending in committee
  31. Considered in formal meeting
  32. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  33. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  34. Committee report distributed
  35. Committee report sent to Calendars
  36. Considered in Calendars
  37. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 25 yea · 6 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · May 6, 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

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Paul Bettencourt.

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 6, 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 6, 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 Bettencourt moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 2541 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 6, 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 6, 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 Bettencourt moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 2541 at this time on its second reading: CSSB 2541, Relating to the calculation of the unused increment rate of a taxing unit. 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.

Witnesses22
For
8
Against
12
On
2
Names

For

  • Self; Americans for Prosperity1 registration
  • Self; Tax Assessor-Collector Association of Texas, Office of Kevin Kieschnick, Nueces County Tax Assessor1 registration
  • Self; Tax Assessor/Collectors Assoc. of Texas1 registration
  • Self; The LIBRE Initiative1 registration
  • Texas Public Policy Foundation2 registrations
  • Texas Taxpayers and Research Association2 registrations

Against

  • Bexar County Commissioners Court2 registrations
  • City of Dallas1 registration
  • City of Houston1 registration
  • County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas2 registrations
  • El Paso County1 registration
  • Harris County Commissioners Court2 registrations
  • Johnson County and County Judges & Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration
  • Travis County Commissioners Court1 registration
  • Victoria County & The County Judges & Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration

On

  • Conference of Urban Counties1 registration
  • Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts1 registration
Sources

22 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

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

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

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

Fiscal

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · April 27, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

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.

FILED BEFORE

Filed 2 times: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

88R SB 1997

by Sen. Bettencourt, same lead author · Died in committee · same text

Introduced text

Last action, Mar 21, 2023: Referred to Local Government

Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem tax rate of a taxing unit.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Mar 13, 2025

05/26/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report

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

Sponsors

House committee · Ways & Means · Committee vote 8 aye, 4 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Local Government · Committee vote 4 aye, 2 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Taxation--Property-Assessment & Collection

Taxation--Property-Tax Rate

Text

The text as introduced · 1,120 words

89R12969 PRL-D

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 2541

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the repeal of provisions providing for the calculation

of an unused increment rate and the use of that rate in calculating

certain other ad valorem tax rates.

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

SECTION 1. Section 26.04(c), Tax Code, is amended to read as

follows:

(c) After the assessor for the taxing unit submits the

appraisal roll for the taxing unit to the governing body of the

taxing unit as required by Subsection (b), an officer or employee

designated by the governing body shall calculate the no-new-revenue

tax rate and the voter-approval tax rate for the taxing unit, where:

(1) "No-new-revenue tax rate" means a rate expressed

in dollars per $100 of taxable value calculated according to the

following formula:

NO-NEW-REVENUE TAX RATE = (LAST YEAR'S LEVY - LOST PROPERTY

LEVY) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)

; and

(2) "Voter-approval tax rate" means a rate expressed

in dollars per $100 of taxable value calculated according to the

following applicable formula:

(A) for a special taxing unit:

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE = (NO-NEW-REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND

OPERATIONS RATE x 1.08) + CURRENT DEBT RATE

; or

(B) for a taxing unit other than a special taxing

unit:

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE = (NO-NEW-REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND

OPERATIONS RATE x 1.035) + [ ( ]CURRENT DEBT RATE [ + UNUSED INCREMENT

RATE) ]

SECTION 2. Sections 26.041(a), (b), and (c), Tax Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) In the first year in which an additional sales and use

tax is required to be collected, the no-new-revenue tax rate and

voter-approval tax rate for the taxing unit are calculated

according to the following formulas:

NO-NEW-REVENUE TAX RATE = [(LAST YEAR'S LEVY - LOST PROPERTY

LEVY) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] - SALES TAX GAIN

RATE

and

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR SPECIAL TAXING UNIT =

(NO-NEW-REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE x 1.08) + (CURRENT

DEBT RATE - SALES TAX GAIN RATE)

or

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR TAXING UNIT OTHER THAN SPECIAL

TAXING UNIT = (NO-NEW-REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE x

1.035) + (CURRENT DEBT RATE [ + UNUSED INCREMENT RATE ] - SALES TAX

GAIN RATE)

where "sales tax gain rate" means a number expressed in dollars per

$100 of taxable value, calculated by dividing the revenue that will

be generated by the additional sales and use tax in the following

year as calculated under Subsection (d) by the current total value.

(b) Except as provided by Subsections (a) and (c), in a year

in which a taxing unit imposes an additional sales and use tax, the

voter-approval tax rate for the taxing unit is calculated according

to the following formula, regardless of whether the taxing unit

levied a property tax in the preceding year:

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR SPECIAL TAXING UNIT = [(LAST

YEAR'S MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS EXPENSE x 1.08) / (CURRENT TOTAL

VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] + (CURRENT DEBT RATE - SALES TAX

REVENUE RATE)

or

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR TAXING UNIT OTHER THAN SPECIAL

TAXING UNIT = [(LAST YEAR'S MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS EXPENSE x

1.035) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] + (CURRENT DEBT

RATE [ + UNUSED INCREMENT RATE ] - SALES TAX REVENUE RATE)

where "last year's maintenance and operations expense" means the

amount spent for maintenance and operations from property tax and

additional sales and use tax revenues in the preceding year, and

"sales tax revenue rate" means a number expressed in dollars per

$100 of taxable value, calculated by dividing the revenue that will

be generated by the additional sales and use tax in the current year

as calculated under Subsection (d) by the current total value.

(c) In a year in which a taxing unit that has been imposing

an additional sales and use tax ceases to impose an additional sales

and use tax, the no-new-revenue tax rate and voter-approval tax

rate for the taxing unit are calculated according to the following

formulas:

NO-NEW-REVENUE TAX RATE = [(LAST YEAR'S LEVY - LOST PROPERTY

LEVY) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] + SALES TAX LOSS

RATE

and

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR SPECIAL TAXING UNIT = [(LAST

YEAR'S MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS EXPENSE x 1.08) / (CURRENT TOTAL

VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] + CURRENT DEBT RATE

or

VOTER-APPROVAL TAX RATE FOR TAXING UNIT OTHER THAN SPECIAL

TAXING UNIT = [(LAST YEAR'S MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS EXPENSE x

1.035) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)] + [ ( ]CURRENT

DEBT RATE [ + UNUSED INCREMENT RATE) ]

where "sales tax loss rate" means a number expressed in dollars per

$100 of taxable value, calculated by dividing the amount of sales

and use tax revenue generated in the last four quarters for which

the information is available by the current total value and "last

year's maintenance and operations expense" means the amount spent

for maintenance and operations from property tax and additional

sales and use tax revenues in the preceding year.

SECTION 3. Sections 49.23602(a)(2) and (4), Water Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(2) "Mandatory tax election rate" means [ the rate

equal to the sum of the following tax rates for the district:

[ (A) ] the rate that would impose 1.035 times the

amount of tax imposed by the district in the preceding year on a

residence homestead appraised at the average appraised value of a

residence homestead in the district in that year, disregarding any

homestead exemption available only to disabled persons or persons

65 years of age or older[ ; and

[ (B) the unused increment rate ].

(4) "Voter-approval tax rate" means the rate equal to

the sum of the following tax rates for the district:

(A) the current year's debt service tax rate;

(B) the current year's contract tax rate; and

(C) the operation and maintenance tax rate that

would impose 1.035 times the amount of the operation and

maintenance tax imposed by the district in the preceding year on a

residence homestead appraised at the average appraised value of a

residence homestead in the district in that year, disregarding any

homestead exemption available only to disabled persons or persons

65 years of age or older[ ; and

[ (D) the unused increment rate ].

SECTION 4. The following provisions are repealed:

(1) Section 120.007(d), Local Government Code;

(2) Section 26.013, Tax Code;

(3) Section 26.0501(c), Tax Code; and

(4) Section 49.23602(a)(3), Water Code.

SECTION 5. This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed

for an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after the effective

date of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.