Important deadlines are coming up quickly for the Nov. 7th election on the Constitutional Amendments, the Denton County Emergency Services District 1 and 2 Election and Municipal Utility District Elections of which you need to be aware.
If you are new to our area or have not registered, you must do so by Tuesday, Oct. 10. Early voting begins at 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 23, and continues through Nov. 3. All times and locations are available on our Denton County website at www.votedenton.gov.
With 14 amendments on the ballot to our Texas Constitution, I want to bring your attention to several that I believe are key.
In Denton County, we have steadily reduced our property tax rate, dropping it by three pennies for FY 2023-2024 to the lowest level since 1986. As you know, I helped implement homestead exemptions for our residents in Denton County and also championed the senior tax ceiling. I believe Proposition 4 will provide even more potential tax relief to our residents as it affects every property owner in the state of Texas.
PROPOSITION 4 will do the following:
- Raises the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 for property owners under the age of 65
- Raises the homestead exemption to $110,000 for those 65 or older
- Temporarily limits the maximum appraised value of property for the purpose of property taxation in a tax year for commercial, mineral, and non-homestead residential properties under $5 million
- Compresses the school M&O taxes an additional 10.7 cents per $100 valuation
- Raises the amount of money a business can make before it is subject to the franchise tax
- Requires 3 new members on the Appraisal District Board who are elected by the voters (This would directly affect the Denton County Appraisal District.)
PROPOSITION 6 protects Texas Water Resources by creating a special fund separate from the general revenue fund to help provide and ensure sufficient water for Texas in future years. It earmarks $2 billion in funds from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to create additional water projects to accommodate our region and state’s phenomenal growth.
PROPOSITION 7: None of us in Denton County, or across the State of Texas for that matter, will soon forget Winter Storm Uri and the devastating impact it had on all of our lives during that long, very cold week. Proposition 7 addresses the need to further improve our energy infrastructure and make certain such a catastrophic event does not recur. It seeks to continue improvement by creating The Texas Energy Fund, which will incentivize the completion of new or modernized electric thermal generating facilities through grants and zero interest loans. The enabling legislation for this proposition would establish an advisory committee for the fund, mandate that money be allocated to eligible projects in every region of Texas in proportion to that region’s load share, and delineates the types of projects that can be funded.
PROPOSITION 8 would expand broadband Internet access to almost a quarter of Texas residents who do not currently have such access.
PROPOSITION 10 allows for the exemption of equipment or inventory held by medical-related manufacturers from ad valorem taxation to strengthen our medical supply chain and encourage manufacturing of these products in our state.
A detailed outline of the additional amendments as well as the Denton County Emergency Services District 1 and 2 Election and Municipal Utility District Elections is available on the Denton County website at dentoncounty.gov.
Contact Commissioner Dianne Edmondson by email at [email protected] or phone her at 972-434-3960. You can also stop by her office in the Southwest Courthouse, 6200 Canyon Falls Drive, Suite 900, in Flower Mound.
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