Dallas City Wire

A state fiscal watchdog said that despite the Texas Legislature heralding "historic property tax reform" last session, local governments have set budgets and rates guaranteeing property tax increases.

According to an article by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR), local governments across the state have put their budget plans together which include likely higher property tax rates. In 2019, state lawmakers passed tax reform legislation aimed at providing property tax relief that has yet to kick into effect. 

"Texans will likely see their property tax bills skyrocket (yet again)," TFR CEO and President Tim Hardin said. "As things begin to heat up and local governments continue to set their new rates and budgets, it is becoming more and more obvious that TFR’s prediction that most of these jurisdictions would NOT adopt the NNRR is coming true. What does this mean for taxpayers? It means the “historic property tax relief” our lawmakers keep celebrating has yet to lower anyone’s bills, nor will it in the coming year unless there is a major shift in local government fiscal responsibility in the next few months. It is safe to say that without local governments adopting the NNRR, your property tax bill WILL GO UP. “

The Texas comptroller describes that the no-new-revenue tax rate enables the public to evaluate the relationship between taxes for the prior year and for the current year, based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both years.

The inflation rate in Texas was up to 8.6% in June 2022, the Texas comptroller reported. In the month of June, current dollars were calculated at $3.68 billion, and inflation-adjusted dollars was reported at $3.24 billion. The difference between current dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars represents the share of sales tax revenue attributable to recent price inflation.

TFR found that the city of Dallas' new no-new-revenue rate was calculated at .64, and instead of lowering it, they are proposing a new rate of .74. The new proposal is 15.6% higher than the existing no-new-revenue rate and will be the highest city increase in the state of Texas.