Herschel Walker still gets tax break on $3 million Texas home

Sign up for The Brief, our each day publication that retains readers on top of things on essentially the most important Texas news.

Herschel Walker, the previous Dallas Cowboys operating again and Republican candidate operating for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, is slated to get a tax break on his $3 million residence in a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb — probably operating afoul of Texas tax regulation.

According to Tarrant County property and tax information, Walker claimed a homestead exemption on his four-bedroom home in Westlake in 2021 and is predicted to take action once more this 12 months— even after he registered to vote in Georgia final 12 months. Walker has since voted in two elections there, CNN reported.

The exemption saved Walker greater than $1,200 on his property tax bill last year, information from the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector present, and would net him more than $1,500 in savings this year.

Walker’s Texas homestead exemption may also elevate questions on his Senate run in Georgia. He is in a runoff with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, in a race to find out simply how tightly Democrats will management the Senate for the subsequent two years. The U.S. Constitution requires officeholders to dwell within the state wherein they’re elected.

Under Texas regulation, householders can declare a homestead exemption — which exempts a specific amount of a home’s worth from taxation — solely on their main residence. But householders might proceed to assert the exemption in the event that they “do not establish a principal residence elsewhere … intend to return to the home … [and] are away less than two years,” according to the state comptroller’s office.

Walker purchased the home in Westlake in 2011, in response to Tarrant County appraisal information. He has claimed the exemption on his Texas home since 2012, information present, permitting him to pay a decrease tax invoice towards town of Westlake and Keller Independent School District. School districts make up the majority of any given Texas house owner’s tax invoice.

Spokespeople for Walker and the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector didn’t instantly return requests for remark.

Homestead exemptions have been fraught territory for Texas politicians prior to now.

Just this 12 months, The Texas Tribune reported that U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a McAllen Democrat, and his spouse had double-dipped on property tax breaks for not less than eight years by claiming homestead exemptions on two houses — saving them at least $2,300 in property taxes on the second home. A Gonzalez spokesperson mentioned the congressman would pay again taxes on the second property.

Then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, mentioned he would pay again $183 in property taxes on a home the place his daughter lived whereas attending Texas A&M University after news media in 2009 reported he had claimed an exemption on the home.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a longtime GOP opponent of property taxes, needed to repay $595 in taxes whereas working as a chat present host in 2005 after he obtained exemptions on two properties within the Houston space, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and the Texas comptroller of public accounts have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find an entire list of them here.