TPPF policy director Quintero: 'Unfortunately, local property tax bills are also bigger in Texas'

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have supported measures to reduce the burden of property taxes on Texans, and even despite major cities in the Lone Star State seeing a population decline, property taxes went up. 

According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation's report titled "Just the Facts: Property Taxes in Texas' Most Populous Cities, Counties and School Districts" which was published last month, property taxes are "the largest tax assessed in Texas."

"As the old saying goes: Everything's bigger in Texas. The vast landscape, the open sky, the emerald rivers and the endless opportunity. Indeed Texas is a wondrous place to call home. Unfortunately, local property tax bills are also bigger in Texas," James Quintero, a policy director at Texas Public Policy Foundation, wrote in a newsletter last week.

The Balance ranked Texas among the top 10 states with the highest property tax rates in the nation, with a median payment of $4,065 per year. 

"It's not a stretch to say that property taxes are out of control in the Lone Star State," Quintero wrote in the newsletter. "As a result, local governments are getting rich while whole families are forced to make hard decisions."

Quintero encouraged Texans to protest property tax appraisals. 

"Protesting your value on a regular basis is an effective way to keep more of your hard-earned money," he wrote in the newsletter. "Make it a priority to get your protest filed with your local Appraisal Review Board before the typical deadline of May 15."

Last year, the Tax Foundation discovered that Texas had the sixth highest property tax rate measured through property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value in 2019. 

Houston property taxes jumped by 45.9% from $1.3 billion to $1.9 billion over four years starting in 2016, according to the report published by Texas Public Policy Foundation. The combined population and inflation for the city grew by 7.6% during the same time period. 

According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, property taxes are unique in a number of ways. First, its property tax report notes that property taxes are “the largest tax assessed in Texas,” according to the Comptroller. In 2019, nearly 50 percent 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.

Most major cities in Texas reported a population decline to some degree in those four years including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano and Laredo, all of which saw a property tax hike as well, the report noted.