Earlier this month, TFR reminded Texas Taxpayers that the time of local budget setting and property tax rate adoptions was rapidly approaching. 

Now, just a few weeks later, many major cities and counties across the Lone Star State have put forward their budget and tax rate proposals for 2023.  

These new budgets and rates will have a heavy hand in determining how much tax relief, if any, taxpayers will see from the property tax relief package that was passed by the Texas State Legislature during their second-called special session. Despite claims that the property tax relief package is the largest in state history (it is actually the second largest, with only $12.7 billion in new relief), many Texans, especially in large urban and suburban areas, are likely to experience little or short-term relief.

This is because many local governments are raising taxes… yet again, and the legislature chose not to address the issue this legislative session. 

Many of these jurisdictions are proposing tax rates that are above the No New Revenue tax rate. Simply put, this is a property tax rate that would allow local governments to collect the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year (if applied to the same properties that were taxed in the previous year). 

Here is just a sampling of the proposed budgets and tax rates from some of the more populous cities and counties in the State, from the Gulf Coast to West Texas.

Counties

Dallas County

• Dallas County is proposing a property tax rate of $0.215718 per $100, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.194757 by more than 10.7%. If this rate is adopted, there will be a 10.15% increase in total taxes levied on properties in Dallas County, compared to 2022.
• A hearing on the proposed tax rates will be held on September 5^th, at 10:00 AM at the Dallas County Records Building at 500 Elm Street, in the 2nd Floor Court Room, for those taxpayers who wish to voice their concerns.
• More info can be found here.

Tarrant County

• Tarrant County is one of the few shining stars, being the only jurisdiction in our review to adopt a property tax rate below the NNR Rate. The commissioners court adopted a rate of $0.1945 per $100 valuation, which is below the county’s NNR rate of $0.196544. The proposed budget is less than the previous year’s budget by 3%. 
• More info can be found here.

Travis County

• Travis County is proposing a property tax rate of $0.100692 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.090813 by more than 10.8%. If this rate is adopted, there will be a 12.6% increase in total taxes levied on properties in Travis County, compared to 2022. 
• More info can be found here.

Bexar County

• Bexar County is proposing a property tax rate of $0.299999 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.281756 by more than 6.4%. The proposed budget raises more revenue from property taxes by 10.8% over the previous year’s budget.  
• Public budget work sessions are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 6^th, Monday, and September 11^th. The budget and tax rates are scheduled to be officially adopted on Tuesday, September 12^th at 9 a.m., for those taxpayers who wish to attend and make their concerns known.  
• More info can be found here and here.

Lubbock County

• Lubbock County is proposing a property tax rate of $0.347507 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.331906 by more than 4.7%. If this rate is adopted, there will be an 11.4% increase in total taxes levied on properties in Lubbock County, compared to 2022.  
• A public meeting to adopt the proposed budget will be held on September 11^th at 10:45 a.m., for those taxpayers who wish to voice their concerns.
• More info can be found here and here.

El Paso County

• El Paso County is proposing a property tax rate of $0.458889 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.401692 by more than 14.2%. If this rate is adopted, there will be an 16.997307% increase in total taxes levied on properties in El Paso County, compared to 2022.
• More info can be found here.

Harris County

• Harris County is set to officially propose new property tax rates on September 12^th and adopt the proposed rates on September 19^th. However, it looks as though the average homeowner could see an 9.2% increase in taxes owed compared to 2022, based on their current budget projections. 
• More info can be found here and here.

Cities

Dallas

• TFR recently reported about Democrat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, taking a surprising position in favor of the city adopting fiscally responsible spending and lower taxes this year. Unfortunately, despite his common-sense stance, the city is officially proposing to raise taxes.
• The city is proposing a property tax rate of $0.7393 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $ 0.6813 by more than 8.5%. 
• The proposed budget raises more revenue from property taxes by 9.29% over the previous year’s budget.  
• More info can be found here and here.

Fort Worth

• The city of Fort Worth is proposing a property tax rate of $0.672500 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $0.635374 by more than 5.8%. If this rate is adopted, there will be a 9.2% increase in total taxes levied on properties in Fort Worth, compared to 2022. 
• A public hearing on the city’s proposed tax rate will be held on Tuesday, September 19^th at 5 p.m., at the City Council Chambers, within City Hall, located at 200 Texas Street, for those taxpayers who wish to voice their concerns.
• More info can be found here.

Austin

• Austin is proposing a property tax rate of $ 0.4458 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $ 0.4130 by more than 7.9%.
• The proposed budget raises more revenue from property taxes by 3.4% over the previous year’s budget.  
• More info can be found here.

San Antonio

• San Antonio is proposing a property tax rate of $ 0.54159 per $100 of property valuation, which is higher than the No New Revenue Rate of $ 0.47800 by more than 13.3%. If this rate is adopted, there will be a 7.8% increase in total taxes levied on properties in San Antonio, compared to 2022. 
• A public hearing on the proposed tax rate will be held on Thursday, September 7th at 9 a.m. A public meeting to vote on the proposed tax rate will be held on September 14th at 9 a.m. Both hearings will be held in the Council Chamber at 105 Main Plaza, for those taxpayers who wish to voice their concerns.
• More info can be found here.

Lubbock

• The city of Lubbock is proposing a budget that raises more revenue from property taxes by 11.33% over the previous year’s budget.
• More info can be found here.

El Paso

• The City of El Paso is proposing a property tax rate of $0.818875 per $100 of property valuation, which is the Same as the No New Revenue Rate. El Paso is the only jurisdiction in our review to propose the No New Revenue Rate as its 2023 rate.  
• More info can be found here.

Houston

• Similar to past years, the City of Houston has made its proposed tax rates and budget incredibly hard to find, failing to provide real transparency for taxpayers.

What Is To Be Done?

Taxpayers must refuse to be silent. These tax increases, year after year, in the variety of forms and means that they are achieved, are unsustainable.  

Taxpayers should make plans to attend the public work sessions, hearings, and meetings to protest tax increases, and demand that local governments adopt tax rates that are at or below the No New Revenue Rate.