Property taxes in the largest cities in Texas are increasing faster than inflation and population combined, a report says. | Adobe Stock
Property taxes in the largest cities in Texas are increasing faster than inflation and population combined, a report says. | Adobe Stock
Property taxes in Texas' 10 largest cities, including Arlington, are rising faster than inflation and population growth, according to a report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
"It’s not a stretch to say that property taxes are out of control in the Lone Star State," James Quintero, a foundation policy director wrote in a newsletter on March 3. "As a result, local governments are getting rich while families are forced to make hard decisions."
The report, "Just the Facts: Property Taxes in Texas’ Most Populous Cities, Counties and School Districts 2nd Edition" by Quintero and Anthony Jones published in February shows that property taxes are “the largest tax assessed in Texas,” according to the state comptroller.
In 2019, nearly half of all tax dollars collected in the Lone Star State came from property taxes. The report also noted that there were 4,256 separate property taxing units in Texas during fiscal 2019, some of which overlap. In addition, the report said "laws and systems surrounding Texas’ property tax are notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates and attorneys." Taxes are also growing far faster than the preferred rate of growth, which is calculated as population growth plus inflation.
The Balance, a personal finance platform, ranked Texas in the 10 states with the highest real estate tax rates in the United States with a median payment of $4,065 per year, on an inflation-adjusted dollar.
The Tax Foundation calculated in 2021 that Texas had the sixth-highest property tax rate, measured as property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value during 2019. Arlington's property tax burden grew by 37.3% from $128.9 million to $190.6 million from 2016 to 2020, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The combined population and inflation for the city grew by 7.8% during that time, resulting in a difference of 29.5%.
Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano and Laredo actually shrank in population, by some measure from 2016 to 2020, the foundation said. However, as residents left the larger urban areas, the zones outside of these jurisdictions benefited from new growth, the foundation added.
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