North Coastal News

Property taxes in almost all Texas independent school districts are rising faster than inflation and population growth, and finding a way to ease the burden on taxpayers is an issue even Republicans and Democrats can agree on.

A report published in February by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) detailed property tax increases for the state's largest school districts compared to the preferred tax growth rate.

"If left unchallenged, these value increases have the potential to really take a bite out of taxpayers over the long-haul," James Quintero, a policy director at TPPF, said in a newsletter discussing property tax appraisals and how to protest them. "Taxpayers should be prepared to defend their wallets this year—first by protesting their property tax appraisals and then by pressuring their local elected officials to adopt lower tax rates."

Aldine ISD's property tax rose 20.5% from $255.2 million to $307.6 million from 2016 to 2020, TPPF reported. Enrollment and inflation for the district grew by 3.4% during the same time frame, resulting in a difference of 17.2% due to rounding.

Property taxes are "the largest tax assessed in Texas," the Texas Comptroller said as reported by TPPF. Three years ago, approximately half of all tax dollars collected in the Lone Star State came from property taxes. At that time, there were 4,256 separate property taxing units in Texas, some of which overlapped.

"The laws and systems surrounding Texas' property tax are notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates, and attorneys," TPPF reported.

Texas was ranked 10th in The Balance's top 10 list of states with the highest property tax rates in the nation, with a median payment of $4,065 a year.

The Tax Foundation reported that Texas had the sixth-highest property tax rate in 2021, measured as property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value in the previous year.

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

A bill passed in 2019 that heavily modified the school finance system and required districts to conduct efficiency audits prior to turning to voters to approve tax rate increases, TPPF reported.

Katy ISD and Conroe ISD were the only two districts to keep their property tax growth rate below the preferred rate of growth, TPPF reported.