Dallas County, the second most populous county in Texas, is threatening taxpayers with a double-digit tax hike.
On Sept. 12, county commissioners will convene a special meeting to discuss next year’s tax rate, which is proposed at $0.215718 per $100 of value. If adopted, the proposed rate would mark a very minor decrease of 1% as compared to the current rate—but even though the tax rate may be lowered, its approval would still mean that people pay higher taxes. This is because it is not enough of a tax rate decrease to offset property value growth. Local elected officials have control of the former, but not the latter. And when they decide not to lower rates enough to compensate for higher valuations, then tax bills grow.
In this case, if county commissioners adopt the proposed tax rate, then the average Dallas County homeowner should expect to pay 10.85% more to county government this year. The county’s total tax levy, which represents its overall property tax burden, is expected to grow 13%.
These are sizeable tax increases to foist upon Dallas-area taxpayers at the worst possible time. Needless to say, county commissioners should go a different direction. That is, instead of adopting the proposed tax rate, which will produce bigger tax bills, commissioners should adopt the no-new-revenue tax rate and hold their revenue steady for a year, which will give struggling families a chance to catch their breath.
Let’s hope Dallas County commissioners rethink this one.
