Across the board, taxing entities in Uvalde County had higher tax collections in 2022 compared to 2019, despite none of the entities increasing tax rates.
In fact, tax collections in the “honey capital of the world” increased, even though all but one taxing entity lowered rates, according to an analysis of rates and average taxable values.
While it’s abnormal for every taxing entity in a county to decrease its rates (one in Uvalde maintained a flat rate), it’s not uncommon for rapidly rising appraisals to overcome rate cuts and lead to higher tax receipts.
The largest rate cut was made by the City of Sabinal, which lowered its tax rate from 0.6105 to 0.4547—a reduction of 0.1558. This resulted in a modest $6 tax increase on the average taxable home value.
Compare this to the City of Uvalde, which also made an aggressive cut to its rate, moving from 0.6999 to 0.6170, a decrease of 0.0829. Average taxable values in Uvalde rose considerably from $82,742 in 2019 to $106,738 in 2022 over the three-year period—wiping out any potential savings a rate cut might bring.
Rate payers saw a $100 increase in their average bill.
The county itself had very similar results, though with a less drastic cut from 0.6158 to 0.5565, down by 0.0593, resulting in a tax bill increase of $100 on the average taxable home value.
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District is a special case.
While the district had the second most aggressive rate cut in the county, dropping by 1.0422 and keeping taxes largely in check, it recently asked ratepayers to approve a tax rate increase in a special election.
Voters in Uvalde CISD voted to reject that tax increase in November. This is an especially notable result, given how the election was administered. Even though the vote was taking place at the same time as the general election, the election was not run by the county, so it didn’t show up on a normal ballot.
Instead, the school district ran the election with its own voting times and at two locations: Batesville School and the CISD Central Office. The VATRE election would have netted the school district $1.9 million. According to the latest TEA Snapshot for Uvalde, the district had a fund balance of $6.4 million.
The county’s Road & Flood District maintained a 0.135 rate over the three-year period.
From now until tax day in 2025, Texas Scorecard will report on counties across the state, highlighting local officials who are working to lighten, or at the very least not increase, property taxpayers’ burdens.
