San Antonio Standard

This year, Texans have endured record inflation, shrinking nominal wages, rising grocery prices and pain at the pump. Now, according to analysis from a statewide fiscal watchdog, they will add increased property taxes to their list of woes.

In a statement released on Aug. 23, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility CEO and President Tim Hardin ticked off reasons why Texans who think three-year-old legislation will save them from increased property taxes should think again.

"This year is special for Texas taxpayers because it is a year where most Texans will likely see their property tax bills skyrocket (yet again), despite state lawmakers' promises that the 'historic property tax reform' legislation passed in 2019 should provide relief any day now," Hardin said.

He referred to a Texas Senate Finance Committee meeting late last spring, during which taxpayers in the state were told to wait for relief in the form of the no-new-revenue rate. The state's comptroller said the no-new-revenue tax rate "enables the public to evaluate the relationship between taxes for the prior year and for the current year, based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both years."

In his statement, Hardin also quoted Senate Finance Committee Chairman Joan Huffman (R-Houston) saying at the meeting that he "wanted to remind everyone, as we see these appraisals rising, that homeowners should see a decrease in the overall tax burden because of the historic property tax relief [from] bills HB 3 and SB 2, which allows cities the option to lower rates to match the no-new-revenue rate in October, when final bills actually come in."

Not all is what it seems, Hardin said.

A Texans for Fiscal Responsibility review of proposed budgets and rates in Texas' four most populous cities found proposals for rates higher than the no-new-revenue tax rate. In Fort Worth, the proposed rate will be 7.5% higher, 15.6% higher in Dallas, 3.5% higher in Austin and 12.5% higher in San Antonio.

"As things begin to heat up and local governments continue to set their new rates and budgets, it is becoming more and more obvious that Texans for Fiscal Responsibility's prediction that most of these jurisdictions would NOT adopt the no-new-revenue rate is coming true," Hardin said. "What does this mean for taxpayers? It means the historic property tax relief our lawmakers keep celebrating has yet to lower anyone's bills, nor will it in the coming year unless there is a major shift in local government fiscal responsibility in the next few months. It is safe to say that without local governments adopting the no-new-revenue rate, your property tax bill WILL GO UP."

Meanwhile, the state's comptroller has also reported that inflation is going up. The inflation rate in Texas was up to 8.6% in June 2022, with current dollars calculated at $3.68 billion, and inflation adjusted dollars was reported at $3.24 billion for that month. The difference between current dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars represents the share of sales tax revenue attributable to recent price inflation.