CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Public-school teachers across the state, including the Coastal Bend, could soon be getting pay bonuses.
That news came as a surprise addition to the latest property-tax cut plan passed by the Texas Senate on Wednesday.
The second special session of the Texas Legislature got underway earlier this week, after lawmakers failed to agree on how to provide property-tax relief during the first session.
The Senate got to work quickly, approving a $100,000 homestead exemption, limiting school tax rates, and eliminating the franchise tax for thousands of businesses.
While it is good for the taxpayer, Texas political reporter Jason Whitely said he wonders whether it is good for the school district.
"The question is: If these property taxes that you and I pay go away, what are they replaced with? A higher sales tax? An income tax? We all know that’s not going to happen, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens, and this is certainly an issue that school districts are watching as well," he said.
The senate also added $3.2 billion in supplemental teacher pay for the upcoming school year. Although the payments are not permanent, they would give $6,000 bonuses to teachers in districts with fewer than 20,000 students.
In districts with 20,000 or more students, the temporary bump would be $2,000.
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