Taxes in the Lone Star State have sky-rocketed, with many residents calling for reform.
According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation's (TPPF) "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, property taxes are unique in several ways. First, the report notes that property taxes are “the largest tax assessed in Texas,” according to the comptroller.
In 2019, nearly 50% of all tax dollars collected in Texas came from property taxes. The report also noted that there were 4,256 separate property taxing units in Texas in the fiscal year of 2019, some of which overlap. The report also claims that "the laws and systems surrounding Texas’ property tax are notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates and attorneys." 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.
"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 where he discussed property taxes in the state. "As a result, local governments are getting rich while families are forced to make hard decisions."
Quintero isn't the only one who has been critical of the state's taxes.
"I’m a small-town Texas entrepreneur with big concerns about out-of-control property tax bills," Kelly Haight said in an op-ed published by The Cannon. He wrote that property taxes are not only bringing hardship to individuals, but to businesses as well, identifying three main pain points.
"We’re being over-taxed three ways: Home property taxes, business property taxes and business franchise taxes. Our revenue hasn’t gone up since COVID-19 hit, but our taxes continue to skyrocket," he said.
The Balance ranked Texas in the 10 states with the highest property tax rates in the United States with a median payment of $4,065 per year.
In 2021, the Tax Foundation found that Texas had the sixth-highest property tax rate measured as property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value in 2019.
Haight closed the piece with a call to change the property tax structure that he said would give Texans more control over their property and their tax expenses: "I think we’ve lost that understanding that property is a right of ownership. So, stop taxing property completely, start taxing sales. If I don’t want to buy the big fancy boat, I don’t have to. A sales tax gives me some control over how much I pay in taxes by how I spend my money. And that’s how I think Texas should be doing it. That’s the Texan way!"