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What will Texas do with its $33 billion surplus?
Lawmakers have gathered in Austin for the legislative session and have an unprecedented challenge to contend with that is what to do with a huge number of excess tax dollars.
HOUSTON - Lawmakers have gathered in Austin for the legislative session and have an unprecedented challenge to contend with that is what to do with a huge number of excess tax dollars.
RELATED: Texas Lt. Governor details how state will spend $30 billion budget surplus
State Comptroller Glen Hager, considered the Chief Financial Officer of Texas, reported a gigantic budget surplus that’s far larger than previously projected.
"We have a cash carry-over balance of remarkably almost $33 billion. This is truly a historical, once-in-a-lifetime budgeting opportunity for the legislature," said Hegar. "This is not the State’s money, it’s the taxpayer's money."
The reason state coffers are bulging is pretty simple – when inflation drove up the cost of everything Texans buy, including energy, it also drove up revenue from state sales and excise taxes.
"The economy has out-performed any expectation we could have expected here in Texas, but also part of that is because you and I are I paying more than we did a year ago," said Hegar, a former State Senator who makes his home in Katy.
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Texas: The Issue Is: State $30 billion budget surplus
The Texas Trio discusses what might happen during the Texas legislative session in Austin and how lawmakers will spend the unprecedented $30 billion in budget surplus money.
Hegar advises refunding a big chunk of the windfall in the form of property tax relief and Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman gave Fox 26 a pretty solid estimate of how much that rebate will likely be.
"We will give significant property tax relief, and we are looking at something in the $15 billion range," said Huffman.
SUGGESTED: Texas House Speaker advocates investing massive state surplus in infrastructure
That still leaves plenty of surpluses for lawmakers to sock away or invest in the Lone Star State’s aging and insufficient infrastructure including "big ticket" items like roads, water systems, coastal protection, and the power grid.
"We have to invest in infrastructure. We have to invest in the future," said Hegar.