Panhandle Times

Texans wondering if their property taxes are as high as they've heard are in for bad news, particularly if they live in Plano.

Austin-based think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation has been reporting that Texas property taxes are among the nation's highest and that there's bipartisan support for reducing that tax burden.

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

Texans pay the nation's sixth highest property taxes, based on the percentage of home values, the newsletter said, citing information from Washington-based nonpartisan tax research group Tax Foundation. Until legislation comes along to deal with the state's high property tax rates, property tax payers in Texas must defend themselves.

"So what do we do?" the newsletter said. "PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST."

This year's deadline for protesting property taxes is fast approaching.

"Protesting your [property tax] value on a regular basis is an effective way to keep more of your hard-earned money," the newsletter said. "Make it a priority to get your protest filed with your local appraisal review board before the typical deadline of May 15th."

Protesting high property taxes in Texas is not a new suggestion. In May of last year, Texas Public Policy Foundation released the webinar, "Everything's Bigger in Texas: How to Protest Your Property Tax Appraisal." The webinar features Quintero and CPA Michael Berlanga, president of the Christian Chamber of San Antonio and founder of True Tax Center, explaining how Texans can protest their property taxes.

Texas Public Policy Foundation also has been tracking property taxes in the state's largest cities. In February, Texas Public Policy Foundation released the second edition of its "Just the Facts: Property Taxes in Texas' Most Populous Cities, Counties, and School Districts" by Quintero and Anthony Jones, a foundation policy scholar. The report cites records from the Texas' Comptroller office and notes that property taxes are "the largest tax assessed in Texas."

The report found that by fiscal 2019 almost half of all tax dollars collected in Texas came from property taxes, collected by 4,256 separate property taxing units in Texas, some of which overlap.

Property tax laws in Texas also are very complex, according to the report. "The laws and systems surrounding Texas' property tax are notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates, and attorneys," the report said.

"This is particularly true for commercial property owners who are subject to increased reporting requirements, made to navigate a more difficult valuation process, and must take into consideration special items, like exemptions and abatements," the report continued. "Together, it all makes for a profoundly cumbersome system that is unlike any other."

The Tax Foundation and Texas Public Policy Foundation aren't the only ones paying attention to just how high property taxes are in Texas. Last month, personal financial publication the balance released its own report about U.S. states with the highest and lowest property taxes and ranked Texas in the 10 states with the highest property tax rates in the nation. The median property tax payment in Texas is $4,065 a year, according to the balance report.

Of Texas' larger cities, Plano's property tax growth rate has been very remarkable. Plano's property tax grew 36.5%, from $165.6 million to $226.0 million between 2016 to 2020. The city's combined population and inflation grew 7.2% during that period, resulting in a difference of 29.3 percent. That dramatic increase came despite a drop in Plano's population.

"Many large cities in Texas actually shrank in population size from 2016 to 2020," the report said. "In fact, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, and Laredo each experienced some measure of population decline in the city proper. But while residents fled big cities, the areas immediately outside these jurisdictions often benefited from new growth."