Oklahoma State Question 843, slated for the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot, proposes to eliminate property taxes on owner-occupied homesteads through a three-year phasein (33.33% in 2027, 66.67% in 2028, 100% in 2029). The initiative aims to protect homeowners from rising taxes but faces criticism over a projected $1.2 billion in lost revenue for local schools and public services.
Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said state lawmakers were already working on property tax reform when the state question was proposed. Eliminating ad valorem taxes for homeowners who file for homestead exemption “is not the answer,” he said, adding that the proposal was “immature.”
Paxton is the principal author of Senate Joint Resolution 39, which proposes a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment to reduce the limit on how much the taxable fair cash value of locally assessed real property is allowed to increase each year. If the proposal were approved by voters, beginning in tax year 2027 the maximum annual increase would be lowered from 5% to 3% for general property, and from 3% to 1% for property qualifying for a homestead exemption or classified as agricultural.
SJR 39 breezed through the Senate, 38-8, on March 26, and was referred to the House of Representatives. In the House, where the measure is co-authored by Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, SJR 39 was assigned to the House Rules Committee on March 31.
If voters passed the constitutional amendment proposed in SJR 39, the tax revenue loss in Fiscal Year 2028 would total $85.4 million, the Oklahoma Tax Commission calculated.
That would include $22.91 million from commercial property, $32.78 million from residential properties that claim no homestead exemption, $28.15 million from residential property owners who do claim homestead exemption each year, and $1.57 million from agriculture land.
Paxton and Hilbert also are the principal authors of Senate Bill 1809, which would authorize a stepped increase to the ad valorem tax exemption provided to all homesteads. The exemption would increase from $1,000 to $3,000 over a four-year period: 2028 to 2031.
The increases in homestead exemption would have estimated fiscal impacts of $34.3 million in FY 2029, increasing to$137.2 million in FY 2032, the OTC calculated.
The estimates would have “a direct impact on local taxing jurisdictions and may indirectly affect state funding through the school funding formula,” legislative fiscal analysts wrote.
It is not clear how much SJR 39 or SB 1809 would cost Comanche County in lost tax revenue – but whatever the amount, it would make a budget issue even worse.
As just one example: Comanche County has 5,237 military veterans who receive a 100% property tax exemption authorized by the Oklahoma Legislature because they have permanent total disabilities. That tax bite came to an estimated $12.2 million as of June 30, 2025, and collectively $86.19 million from 2006 through 2024, county assessor records show.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission reimburses Comanche County for only 12.5% of those exemptions, County Assessor Grant Edwards said. Last year, that came to $1,819,427, which was disbursed to Lawton, Elgin, Cache, Bishop, Flower Mound, Fletcher, Geronimo, Chattanooga, Sterling, and Indiahoma public schools, records reflect.