Lufkin City Council discusses homestead tax exemption for residents

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - An East Texas city is moving toward lowering property taxes for some of its citizens.

Amid rising property values across the state, the Lufkin City Council discussed including a city homestead exemption at Monday night’s meeting. This decision would reduce the amount of property value taxed by 10 to 20 percent, meaning tax payment would lower accordingly. This city homestead exemption would coincide with a state version of a similar plan. Mayor Mark Hicks delivered a positive summary.

“The additional revenue of new home constructions and values going up in commercial areas more than makes up for that,” Hicks said. “So not only will we lower the tax rate, and give a homestead exemption that we can modify in the future if we felt the need to do it… so it’s a plus all the way around.”

City Manager Kevin Gee said that if the plan went into effect, those applicable would have the exemption applied automatically. He said they feel confident that the plan covers the managed growth of the city throughout the coming years.

The council was favorable of the plan overall, and it will be up for approval at a later date.

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