NE Tarrant News

Property taxes have become a point of contention in Texas; it's an issue that draws bipartisan support for decreasing the property tax burden on the state’s citizens. A report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in February shows property tax increases for the state’s most populous counties compared to the tax's preferred growth rate, which is a combination of inflation plus population growth. 

Property tax in all 10 counties, including Tarrant, outstripped this preferred rate over the period from 2016 to 2020. James Quintero and Anthony Jones wrote a report called “Just the Facts, 2nd Edition" for the TPPF, noting that property taxes are “the largest tax assessed in Texas,” according to the comptroller. The report also stated that nearly half of all tax revenues generated in the state came from property taxes in 2019, with 4,256 individual property taxing entities in the state during that year, some overlapping. 

"It’s not a stretch to say that property taxes are out of control in the Lone Star State,” Quintero, policy director for the TPPF, said earlier this month in a newsletter. “As a result, local governments are getting rich while families are forced to make hard decisions.” 

Quintero and Jones wrote in their report that Texas is known for having a complex property tax, with many residents needing to seek assistance from accountants or attorneys. They also noted that the taxes are increasing more quickly than the preferred rate of growth. 

Texas ranks among the top 10 states with the highest property tax rates, with residents paying an average of $4,056 in real estate taxes annually, according to a report by The Balance. The Tax Foundation noted on its website that the state was saddled in 2019 with the sixth-highest property tax in the country, measured as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value. 

According to the TPPF report, residents in Tarrant County saw their property tax increase by 45.5%, from $398 million in 2016 to $579 million in 2020. The report also noted that during that period, the population and inflation for the city grew by 12.1%, leading to a difference of 33.4%.  Across the state, the 10 largest counties experienced at least some population growth during that same time frame.