Civic Insights with David Billings
We’ve been diving into Governor Abbott’s property tax relief proposals as we get deeper into campaign season. Isn’t this fun? Maybe not, but it’s important that we understand the proposals and how they impact our community.
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Now, let’s get back to the topic of the week, property tax relief. One of the ideas being discussed by Governor Abbott is the idea of a tax rate rollback election.
Let’s start with today’s rules!
Texas Tax Code §26.07 governs elections to approve the tax rate for cities and other taxing units (other than school districts). In practical terms, current law says that if a city adopts a tax rate that exceeds its voter-approval tax rate, registered voters must decide in an election whether to approve the proposed tax rate.
For cities under 30,000, when the adopted rate is between the voter-approval rate and the de minimis rate, voters can trigger a rollback election by petition (3% of registered voters) to cut the city rate down to the voter-approval tax rate.
As we can see, Texas already has rollback election laws on the books. The key question is whether lowering rates via petition meaningfully reduces tax bills
The Governor is proposing to allow a petition signed by 15% of registered voters to trigger a rollback election to lower tax rates for any reason.
To better understand the proposal, we need to make a few assumptions. For the sake of discussion, I’m assuming:
- A rollback election could be triggered by a petition signed by 15% of registered voters.
- Petition organizers would have 30 calendar days to submit a petition to be validated and accepted.
- The rollback would return the rate to the prior tax year.
For Fate, we have around 13,900 registered voters, so about 2,085 registered voters would have to sign the petition within 30 calendar days. Honestly, this would be a heavy lift, and we can assume the Texas policy shops, such as Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, know this fact too.
We need to pause and understand how city property taxes are structured.
The city has two parts of the total city tax rate: Maintenance & Operations (M&O) and Interest & Sinking (I&S). The M&O rate funds the city’s general governmental operations, while the I&S rate is used exclusively to pay debt service on the City’s outstanding general obligation bonds and certificates of obligation.
Good, so far?
We must assume we still need to pay our outstanding debt obligations, so any rollback election could not realistically include the I&S portion of the tax rate. That would be like trying to reduce our monthly spending by not paying the mortgage or car payments. We all get the idea.
Let’s look at how the tax rate is split across Rockwall County.
| 2025 | M&O | I&S | Total Tax Rate |
| Fate | $0.1984 | $0.0608 | $0.2592 |
| Rockwall | $0.1621 | $0.0854 | $0.2475 |
| McLendon-Chisholm | $0.0845 | $0.0118 | $0.0963 |
| Heath | $0.1914 | $0.0989 | $0.2903 |
| Rockwall County | $0.1988 | $0.0559 | $0.2547 |
Figure 1 – 2025 Rockwall County Tax Rates
| 2026 | M&O | I&S | Total Tax Rate |
| Fate | $0.2008 | $0.0901 | $0.2909 |
| Rockwall | $0.1582 | $0.09934 | $0.2575 |
| McLendon-Chisholm | $0.0811 | $0.0113 | $0.0924 |
| Heath | $0.1886 | $0.0870 | $0.2757 |
| Rockwall County | $0.1979 | $0.0531 | $0.2510 |
Figure 2 – 2026 Rockwall County Tax Rates
What would that look like in Fate?
Let’s use Fate as an illustrative example. The current approved Fate M&O tax rate is $0.2008, or about 20.0 cents per $100 of value. The previous year’s approved M&O rate was $0.198399, a difference of roughly $0.002 per $100. Yes, that’s a fraction of a cent per $100 in value only a few dollars in annual tax difference for most homeowners.
Could the impact be greater in larger cities? Let’s check.
- McKinney: In 2026, the M&O rate is $0.2760, while the 2025 M&O rate was $0.2789, a difference of $0.0029. Once again, not a big impact.
- Dallas: Dallas’ 2025 M&O rate was $0.5109 versus a 2026 M&O rate of $0.5084, a difference of $0.0025. Once again, not a big Impact
We have determined that rolling back the M&O rate to the prior year’s tax rate may not accomplish the Governor’s property tax relief goals.
What if the rollback is applied to the total tax rate?
For the sake of discussion, let’s assume the Legislature allows the total tax rate (M&O + I&S) to be rolled back. Fate is a good example. In the City’s 2025–2026 adopted budget, the tax rate increased by 3.16 cents per $100 from 25.92 cents per $100 to 29.08 cents per $100.
If an individual or group could gather 2,085 signatures, they could force an election to roll the tax rate back to 25.92 cents per $100. The city would need to reduce the M&O budget by roughly $1 million, because it would still be required to pay its outstanding debt obligations.
Next week, we will look at Lt. Gov. Patrick’s “Operation Double Nickel” proposal to reduce property taxes.
About the Author
David Billings, retired Mayor of Fate, has served the community for over a decade. A longtime business leader in the telecommunication industry, Navy veteran, and resident of Rockwall County, he brings both professional and civic experience to his writing on government, budgeting, and local economics. He is a graduate of Leadership Rockwall, North Texas Commission Leadership Program, active in several Rockwall County non-profits boards, and the American Legion.
He is passionate about civic involvement in local government, maintaining transparent governance and thoughtful strategic planning to preserve a bright future for the regions.
