By Suzanne Bellsnyder, Texas Rural Reporter

Last month, Governor Greg Abbott unveiled what he calls a “bold” plan: eliminate school district property taxes on homesteads and replace roughly $35 to $39 billion in local school funding with the state’s current budget surplus and other state revenues. And he’s been on the campaign stump telling Texans how it’s going to work. For homeowners, especially in rural counties where property valuations have skyrocketed, the idea sounds appealing. But the math behind the proposal—and its long-term consequences—deserves a closer look, especially for communities like ours.

Texas has a $24 billion surplus today. It does not have one every year. Anyone who has lived in the Panhandle or Permian Basin knows exactly why: oil and gas prices rise and fall, an

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