State Candidate Questionnaire

On behalf of more than 140,000 Texas REALTORS®, we commend you for seeking office and appreciate you taking time to complete this questionnaire.

The purpose of the questionnaire is to establish an issue-based dialogue between you and your local REALTOR® association.

Your responses to the questionnaire will not be made public, nor are they a litmus test for campaign support.

Texas REALTORS® appreciates your attention to the candidate interview and is available to answer any questions. Contact your local REALTOR® association or the Texas REALTORS® Government Affairs Department at 512.480.8200.

Candidate Information

Issue: Property Rights

Background

Cities and counties have made many attempts to obtain more regulatory authority over commercial and residential development. Most cities maintain a reasonable permitting process and reasonable development laws. However, some municipalities have a separate agenda—whether it is to limit growth, prevent density, protect the environment, or inhibit the activities of specific private-sector developers. As a result, the Legislature has implemented laws designed to minimize abuses by local governments.

Counties don’t have as much regulatory authority over development as cities. However, some counties would like to obtain more authority to control development in unincorporated areas. Texas REALTORS® closely monitors any attempt by counties or cities to obtain regulatory authority that may infringe on private-property rights.

Local Rulemaking Authority

Current state law gives county government limited and specific regulatory authority over commercial and residential land development. Any additional county regulatory powers must be specifically granted by the Texas Legislature. In recent years, explosive growth in many counties has resulted in numerous requests for additional county rulemaking authority, which the Legislature has been reluctant to grant.

Issue: Eminent Domain

Background

For years, Texas has had ambiguous eminent domain laws that many believe are at odds with the state’s philosophical support of private property rights. The 87th Texas Legislature (2021) saw the passage of House Bill 2730, which makes several changes to ensure the eminent domain process is fairer and that property owners are more aware of their rights when an entity with eminent domain authority seeks to acquire their property. Additionally, this legislation increases transparency by requiring an initial offer to include more information, including the Landowner’s Bill of Rights, a property appraisal that includes the remainder of the property not being condemned, and a list of negotiable terms. 

But even with these pro-private property rights changes, many believe there is still more to be done for property owners

Issue: Tax on Professional Services

Background

As long as policymakers look for ways to restructure the tax system, Texas REALTORS® will actively participate in the discussion to ensure the buyers, sellers, and owners of real estate—and real estate professionals—have representation. Texas REALTORS® is committed to working with the Texas Legislature to create tax policy that is just and fair to all Texans. 

During previous legislative sessions, there have been various proposals advocating new taxes. Texas REALTORS® has actively worked with the Texas Legislature to oppose a tax on professional real estate services and a tax on the transfer of real property. At the same time, Texas REALTORS® supported efforts to reduce property taxes for homeowners, which would make homeownership more affordable.

Voters have now moved to ban both income taxes and real estate transfer taxes in the state constitution. With options for raising tax revenue continuing to dwindle, lawmakers may eye expansion of the sales tax base.

In recent years, the Texas Legislature has debated proposals to expand the sales-tax base to include professional services, which currently have certain exclusions.

Issue: Property Taxes and the Appraisal Process

Background

Often, a taxpayer’s concern with any taxing system is rooted in the belief that the person or entity is paying a disproportionate share of a tax. This is true under any taxing structure: income, property, sales, or franchise.

When it comes to property taxes, specifically, the property appraisal process is one of the elements that determine tax liability for real property. However, the appraisal process and local taxing jurisdictions’ budget processes have become increasingly convoluted and difficult to understand.

As a result, many commercial and residential property owners believe the appraisal and protest processes are not transparent, fair, or uniform across central appraisal districts.

Many property owners also believe CADs either work for, or are in cahoots with, local taxing jurisdictions. There are also some chief appraisers who believe it is their job to assist the taxing entities with raising revenue.

The Legislature has made great strides over the past few sessions to lessen the burden on taxpayers, including the passage of the Property Tax Relief Act in 2023 which allocated more than $18 billion in relief for property tax payors. This plan included over $12 billion in compression to buy down local school tax rates and increased the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.

In 2025, the Legislature moved measures to increase the homestead exemption even more, to $140,000, with an additional $60,000 for seniors and disabled homeowners.

Appraisal Caps

In recent sessions, legislators have filed bills that would lower the current 10% appraisal increase cap on homestead properties to an arbitrary number, such as 2%, 3%, or 5%. or extend the cap on homestead properties to non-homestead residential, commercial, and industrial property, as means to address property tax reform.

2023 saw the creation of a temporary appraisal cap of 20% on non-homestead properties valued at less than $5 million.

Issue: LOOKBACK (ROLLBACK) TAXES FOR LAND USE CHANGE

Background

State law allows for an Agriculture Special Valuation (often referred to an ag exemption) on certain lands, which can lower the property’s tax liability. The tax savings a property owner receives depends on the current market value of the property and the type of Ag Valuation the landowner holds.

However, the law also enables local governments to collect substantial “rollback” taxes on agriculture land when the owner stops using it for agriculture, with interest. This penalty is commonly called a lookback (or rollback) tax because it recaptures the taxes the owner would have paid had the property been taxed at full market value in previous years. 

A law passed by the 86th Texas Legislature (2019) reduces the lookback period from five to three years and reduced the interest charges from 7% to 5%. 

Further, a law passed by the 87th Texas Legislature (2021) eliminated all interest charges on those assessed lookback taxes.

Rollback Taxes for Land Use Change 

State law allows local governments to collect a “lookback” tax on agriculture land when the owner stops using it for agriculture as a disincentive for taking the land out of agricultural production.

ISSUE: INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

Background

The first five words of the Preamble to the REALTOR® Code of Ethics are “Under all is the land.” Texas REALTORS® believes infrastructure is a core service of government. Over the past decade, the association has expanded its legislative focus to include the state’s infrastructure, including water, transportation, energy, broadband access, and public education. 

As businesses seek to relocate to or expand in Texas, it’s critical that the state’s infrastructure has the capacity to accommodate them and their employees.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 people move to Texas every day—and that’s great for the real estate industry. But they bring cars, children, and a need for water, healthcare, broadband access, and power. 

State leaders have been quick to point out that Texas leads the nation in job creation and has been an economic bright spot and a model for other states. The only way for that to continue is to ensure the state has the infrastructure to support new businesses and the rapidly growing population.

 

Transportation Infrastructure

The State of Texas must ensure its citizens have access to a safe and efficient transportation system. In doing so, the state must address numerous issues: congestion, capacity, construction and maintenance costs, safety, age and condition of roadways, the impact transportation delays have on air quality, cost of goods, and quality of life. Failing to pay for infrastructure needs will ultimately cost state taxpayers an extraordinary amount of money in the future.

Water Infrastructure

Texas loses over 180 billion gallons of water each year to leaks and other infrastructure failures – that is more water than is used each year in Austin, Houston, and El Paso combined!  An estimated $154 billion is needed in water infrastructure investments by 2050 to make sure Texas’s water systems are functioning properly and can support the state’s estimated growth.

ISSUE: PROPERTY INSURANCE

Background

Property insurance is vital to protect both homeowners and mortgagers from damage, vandalism and theft, natural disasters, and more. But an increase in both the occurrence and severity of catastrophic weather events, coupled with rising construction costs and higher claim payouts, has led Texas to have one of the fastest growing premium rates in the nation – property owners saw an average 23% increase in their property insurance premiums in 2023, and another 19% in 2024. 

These rapidly growing rates only exacerbate the affordability problem seen in our state, and in some cases the lack of affordable insurance – or the inability to retain insurance for a property at all – can cause transactions to fall apart. 

Texas now has among the highest average home insurance rate in the nation. As rates continue to rise, Texans are being priced out of the insurance market, with some finding it difficult to find an insurer willing to write a policy for their property at all.

Issue: Homeowners' Associations

Background

An estimated 6 million Texans – about 20% of the population – live in communities governed by property owners’ associations (POAs). That number will only increase as new communities are built around the state to meet the needs of our growing population.  Due to municipal regulations and buyer preferences, property owners’ associations are often necessary to create new housing communities. POAs can enhance neighborhoods, provide amenities, and protect property values.

Increasingly, homeowners’ associations (HOAs) are taking on functions local governments traditionally provide and wield significant power over residents, including, but not limited to, aesthetic regulations, tenant limitations, credit reporting, and foreclosure authority—yet they remain unregulated by any state entity. 

The 87th Texas Legislature (2021) overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 1588, which expands and clarifies property owners’ rights, reins in some costs, and ensures Texans have access to information they need to successfully to buy, sell, and live in managed communities. The 89th Texas Legislature (2025) passed SB 711, which expanded many of those protections to condominium associations.

Property Rights in Homeowners’ Associations

Homeowner’s Associations Foreclosure Authority

Homeowners’ associations currently can initiate foreclosure proceedings to collect past-due assessments and fines, meaning the association can repossess a home if the owner is delinquent in their assessments or other debts. Further, POA debts often assume a “priority” status, meaning they must be the first to be repaid when a property is foreclosed upon—even above the mortgage lender.

Homeowner’s Associations Regulation

Homeowners’ associations in Texas have the power to impose fines, restrict property use, and even initiate foreclosure, yet they face almost no state oversight.