Too Many Property Taxing Entities?

"Excessive property tax levy increases have been partially fueled by the mammoth number of property taxing jurisdictions here in Texas. Today, more than 4,100 local governments that levy a property tax collect more than $52 billion from homeowners and businesses statewide. That translates into a burden of roughly $1,900 per Texan or about $8,000 for a family of four.Statesman

From 2005 to 2015, total property taxes levied statewide increased by 4.9 percent on an average annually. Separating levies into major categories of property taxes, average annual growth increases were: 7 percent by special purpose districts, 6.3 percent by counties, 5.6 percent by cities and 4 percent by school districts."

Even though school property taxes are the largest in absolute dollars for the property owner, special purpose districts, counties, and cities are increasing their extraction of property taxes at a rate higher than schools. Recall from an earlier post that Georgetown is growing their property tax take at 10%+ compounded annually over the last 5 years. That is double the state wide averages.