A new bond program has created concerns about a potential property tax increase in Texas | Shutterstock
A new bond program has created concerns about a potential property tax increase in Texas | Shutterstock
Property taxes are on the rise and a vote coming in May in Bexar County is expected to increase the property tax burden that individuals pay, according to a report from the county.
San Antonio's 2022 bond program, which will receive a vote on May 7, adds up to $1.2 billion. This would be the biggest ever in the city. In February, the City Council voted unanimously to send the proposed bond package to voters, and San Antonio city officials say that the bond will not increase the property tax burden for citizens.
“Many people vote for the bonds without realizing that the resulting property tax increase affects not only every property owner, but renters as well, and raises the cost of doing business in Bexar County,” party chairman John Austin wrote in a recent Bexar GOP newsletter opposing the bond.
Advocates for the new program disagreed with that assessment.
“We’re going to be countering misinformation from any source,” James Aldrete, a consultant with the political action committee advocating for the bond’s passage, told the San Antonio Express News. “The fact is it does not raise any new taxes.”
According to a report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Bexar County's property tax increased 35.7% from $432.4 million to $586.8 million from 2016 to 2020. The combined population and inflation for the county grew by 12.1% during that time, adding up to a difference of 23.6%. The result is that property taxes in Bexar County increased 24% faster than the ideal rate of growth. For the city of San Antonio, that increase was 33.9%.
Gary Teal, executive director of the Bexar GOP, fell into agreement with Ben Gorzell, the city’s chief financial officer, regarding the fact that if the bond did not pass, the property taxes in Bexar County would be lowered, as reported by the San Antonio Express News. Part of the property tax structure in Bexar County is directed towards paying off debt, and if the bond was lower or not approved, the debt payments would be smaller.
In 2021, the Tax Foundation discovered that Texas had the sixth biggest property tax rate measured as property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value in 2019, providing context to the anxiety about property taxes.
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