Cameron County leaders are working to provide homeowners with a homestead exemption application during the home buying process.

The exemption gives homeowners a deduction on their property taxes, and officials with the Cameron County Tax Assessor Collector’s Office say they want to make the deduction mandatory.

Most homeowners don't know that benefit is available to them, and the county said they’ve given back property owners more than $20 million in the last year.

“We're trying to make it mandatory that at the end of the sale of that purchased home that the homeowners sign a homestead exemption, and the title company forward that application to the appropriate agency,” Cameron County Tax Assessor Collector Tony Yzaguirre said.

County tax officials are asking lawmakers to introduce a bill at the state capitol in Austin.