"The Texas Legislature is considering a bill that would slow
city and county property tax growth. I wholeheartedly support reducing the
amount of taxes I pay; however, the proposal moving forward is short-sighted.
The current proposals, Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2, would
require local governments to hold an election if their tax revenues increase
2.5 percent or more over the previous year. This election would not be required
to raise your tax rate; it would be held if collections were increased by 2.5
percent, regardless of the tax rate. The City of Georgetown has a tax rate of
$0.4200 per $100 of property valuation. (The rate was lowered from $0.4240 in
2017 to $0.4200 in 2018.)
If you own your home, you recently received your Notice of
Appraised Value from the Williamson Central Appraisal District. I thought I
would use the average Georgetown home as an illustration of how this new law,
if passed, would affect people. Let’s assume the average home value increased
six percent. Below is a comparison of Georgetown’s 2018 and 2019 real estate
taxes, assuming no exemptions:
Year Home Value City Tax Rate City Tax Bill
2018 $279,521 .0042 $1,173.99
2019 $296,292 .0042 $1,244.43
The increase in value of the average home with no increase
in the tax rate resulted in $70.44 in additional revenue for the City of
Georgetown. However, with SB 2, the city would collect only $29.36, a savings
of $41.09. That means SB 2 saved $3.42 a month. If the city needed to collect
more than $29.36 to fund city services at the same level of the previous year,
it would have to hold an election.
This is all well and good. Should the proposal pass, I am
sure our representatives in Austin will claim a great victory for taxpayers.
However, legislators claim SB 2 will slow property tax
growth but they will fail to address the largest individual tax on my bill:
Georgetown ISD taxes. The rate I pay Georgetown ISD is more than three times
what I pay the City of Georgetown. With a tax rate of $1.409 per $100 valuation
and the increased values mentioned above, you would pay $236.31 more to GISD in
2019 than in 2018.
No election would be required to collect six percent more
for school taxes. Additionally, from the way I understand it, 13 percent of my
school taxes go to the state for recapture. That means the average homeowner
will be sending $542.72, or $45.23 a month, to the state because of the current
school finance calculations.
The Texas Legislature is trying to address school taxes
through a bill that would lower school tax rates by four cents. While I applaud
their efforts, this measure won’t reduce the school taxes I pay in a meaningful
way long-term.
I also have a problem that legislators are not willing to
hold themselves to the same standard. The Texas House passed a budget that
includes a six percent increase with no approval from voters. If the
Legislature truly believed in tax reform, they would hold every level of
government to a similar standard, and not use cities as scapegoats to avoid
making meaningful change.
I appreciate the work of our elected officials at the state.
I appreciate the attempt to try and reduce the amount of taxes you and I pay.
But I don’t agree with their approach. Please join me in reaching out to those
elected and ask them not to approve SB 2 in its current form. First, ask them
to keep local decision-making intact so we can continue to provide the
services, infrastructure, and resources our citizens and businesses need to
thrive. Second, ask them to address the real issue facing Texans — to what level
and how should the state fund public schools."
Kevin Pitts is Georgetown City Council member for District
5.
Here is my response, published April 17 in the WilcoSun.
Councilman Pitts Misses the Point
Councilman Pitts thinks the proposed tax bills in the state
legislature are unfair to the City. He should be focused on the City tax burden
placed on the property owners of Georgetown--that is what is unfair.
Councilman Pitts uses the classic technique of asking the
reader to focus on the taxes imposed by the school district, not so much on the
City imposed property taxes, over which he and his fellow councilmen have total
control.
The property tax revenue extracted from property owners has
been growing at a compound annual rate of 9.72%, based on City budget documents.
Yet, population plus inflation has only been growing at a 4.9% rate over the
same period. So, why are the property taxes growing almost twice the rate that
City growth should require?
Let us examine the average home owner’s tax bill like
Councilman Pitts. This data is calculated from the 2019 Budget:
Fiscal Year Avg Home Value City Tax Bill
2014 $190,800 $838.57
2015 $210,200 $912.27
2016 $234,500 $1017.73
2017 $253,500 $1074.84
2018 $266,600 $1118.46
2019 $279,500 $1173.90
The City tax bill on the
average home has increased at a 7% annual rate. What is the justification for
annual tax bill growth greater than population plus inflation?
I disagree with Councilman
Pitts and believe the Council should focus on what is best for Georgetown’s
home owners and hold their property tax increases to no more than population
growth plus inflation annually.
Georgetown WatchDog
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