Property Taxes are controversial issue in the state of Texas, and there is bipartisan support for decreasing the tax burden on citizens in Texas.
A report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation in February of 2022 reveals property tax increases for Texas' most populous counties compared to the tax's preferred growth rate, which is a combination of inflation plus population growth. Property tax in all ten counties, including Travis, went beyond the preferred rate over the years of 2016 to 2020.
"It’s not a stretch to say that property taxes are out of control in the Lone Star State" James Quintero, a Policy Director at Texas Public Policy Foundation wrote in a newsletter on March 3, 2022 pertaining to property taxes in Texas. "As a result, local governments are getting rich while families are forced to make hard decisions."
The complexity of the tax system is also viewed as excessively burdensome. In the Texas Public Policy Foundation's "Just the Facts: Property Taxes in Texas’ Most Populous Cities, Counties, and School Districts 2nd Edition" by James Quintero and Anthony Jones published in February of 2022, the Texas property tax is described as "notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates, and attorneys."
The Texas Public Policy Foundation's report also says that property taxes are distinct in a variety of ways. First, the report says that property taxes are “the largest tax assessed in Texas”, according to the Comptroller. In 2019, almost half of all tax dollars collected in Texas came from property taxes.
The report additionally states that there were 4,256 different property taxing units in Texas during the fiscal year of 2019, some of which overlap. The report also claims that Not only are the tax laws complex, but they are also growing far faster than the preferred rate of growth, which is calculated as population growth plus inflation. Texas was ranked in the 10 states with the highest property tax rates in the United States with a median payment of $4,065 every year.
In 2021, the Tax Foundation revealed that Texas had the sixth highest property tax rate when measured as property taxes paid as a percentage of owner occupied housing value in 2019. Travis County’s property tax grew 55.5% from $599 million to $931.4 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 14.8% during that time, resulting in a difference of 40.7%.
Each of Texas’ ten most populous counties had some level of population growth from 2016 to 2020. Collin County had the highest out of the ten most populous, increasing by 12.8% over that period.