Today, the Houston city council adopted a property tax rate of $0.561840 per $100 of taxable value, which will raise taxes on the average homestead from $1,365 per year to $1,407 per year. The city cited a disaster loophole to increase taxes by more than 3.5% without voter approval. The vote was 13 – 4.
“The Houston city council voted to raise taxes today despite the Bayou City’s 9.6% unemployment rate and continued business closures. The poor and elderly will be hurt the most from the city’s aggressive tax hike,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “The Texas Legislature should not forget the city of Houston’s actions today. There is much work to do to protect taxpayers in the next legislative session, especially with respect to strengthening the 3.5% limit.”
Photo by Alexander Londoño on Unsplash