As Oklahoma lawmakers consider legislation to gradually eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income tax, critics have suggested property taxes will surge if the state no longer taxes work and investment, pointing to the much higher property tax burden in Texas, which has no income tax.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond is among those who have raised that concern.

At a recent American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma event, Drummond expressed hesitancy about repealing Oklahoma’s personal income tax, pointing to Texas’ property and sales taxes, according to Public Radio Tulsa.

“Texans tax the living hell out of each other. They do. That’s how they fund state government,” Drummond said, according to Public Radio Tulsa. “So, for us to go to zero income tax that’s lovely, but we have to have an alternative.”

But a recent report from the Tax Foundation shows that multiple states that have no personal income tax also have lower average property taxes than the effective rates imposed in Oklahoma.

The report showed that Oklahoma homeowners face effective property taxes of 0.76 percent of the fair market value of owner-occupied housing.

While policymakers in Texas have chosen to impose higher local property tax rates in that state (an effective rate of 1.47 percent), officials in other no-income-tax states have chosen a different path.

Five states with no personal income tax also have the same or lower effective property tax rates than Oklahoma. Those states include Florida (0.71 percent effective property tax rate), Nevada (0.44 percent), Tennessee (0.48 percent), and Wyoming (0.55 percent). A fifth state with no personal income tax, Washington, has the same effective property tax rate as Oklahoma (0.76 percent).

Data from other states also show that the presence of an income tax does not mean there will be an offsetting effect through lower property taxes.

Neighboring Kansas imposes a top income-tax rate of 5.58 percent, compared to Oklahoma’s top rate of 4.75 percent. In addition to having a higher income-tax rate, Kansas also imposes an effective property tax rate of 1.26 percent of the fair market value of owner-occupied housing, the 13th highest rate in the nation and much higher than the rate imposed in Oklahoma.

Similarly, New Jersey has a top personal income tax rate of 10.75 percent, which is more than double the top rate in Oklahoma. Yet New Jersey also has the nation’s highest property taxes.

State Rep. Mark Lepak said those who argue Oklahomans will duplicate Texas’ property taxes if both states have no income tax ignore important distinctions between the two states.

“I think using Texas as a comparison creates a false choice in our discussion about reducing or eliminating Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate,” said Lepak, R-Claremore.

In Texas, he noted that ad valorem tax funds local needs, such as county, city, and schools, while Texas state government is funded mostly through sales taxes, along with various other fees and assessments.

In Oklahoma, Lepak noted that ad valorem is primarily dedicated to public schools and county operations, and Oklahoma is the only state that restricts city funding to city sales tax and utility revenue.

Furthermore, Oklahoma requires a three-fourth legislative majority in both chambers, or a vote of the people, to increase state taxes.

As a result, Lepak said that “suggesting a reduction in Oklahoma’s income tax might create Texas-like property taxes doesn’t account for the significant differences in our respective tax structures.”

The political narrative that Oklahomans will suddenly agree to major property tax increases if the personal income tax is eliminated also ignores national trends. Efforts to eliminate or curtail property taxes are underway in several states that have lower income tax rates than Oklahoma, including in Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently called for repealing the property tax in that state.

In his 2025 State of the State address, delivered earlier this month, DeSantis said, “While Florida property values have surged in recent years, this has come at a cost to taxpayers squeezed by increasing local government property taxes. Escalating assessments have created a gusher of revenue for local governments—and many in Florida have seen their budgets increase far beyond the growth in population. Taxpayers need relief.

“You buy a home, pay off a mortgage—and yet you still have to write a check to the government every year just to live on your own property?” DeSantis continued. “Is the property yours or are you just renting from the government?”

After expressing support for efforts to reduce or repeal property taxes, DeSantis added, “Oh, and one other thing—don’t let anyone tell you we will seek to raise state taxes, because we will not.”

Similar efforts to reduce or repeal property taxes are also underway in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The top personal income tax rate in both Indiana (3 percent) and Pennsylvania (3.07 percent) is lower than Oklahoma’s current income-tax rate (4.75 percent). And Indiana’s effective property tax rate is already lower than Oklahoma’s burden, according to the Tax Foundation’s calculations.

House Bill 1539, by Lepak, would cut the state’s personal income-tax rate by a quarter point each time that net state revenue increases by at least $300 million, continuing the process until the tax is fully repealed over time.

The bill currently awaits a vote on the floor of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.