Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax presented a budget to Dallas City Council last week that will increase the average city property tax bill for homeowners almost 10 percent more than last year.

From 2013 to 2018, data from the Dallas Appraisal District shows that the average city property tax bill for homeowners increased over 43 percent, from $1,100 to $1,580. City council lowered the tax rate during that time, but not enough to offset rising property tax value.

Broadnax proposes raising the tax rate to $0.78 per $100 valuation, resulting in an increase in the average city property tax bill for homeowners to $1,731, 9.5 percent more than last year.

The city’s recommended rate is well above the “effective” tax rate of $0.7472, which would collect roughly the same amount of property tax revenue overall from the same properties taxed last year, both residential and commercial. The effective rate adjusts as property values change to keep taxpayers’ bills roughly the same, in the aggregate, though individual taxpayers’ results vary based on valuations and exemptions.

Regardless of the tax rate adopted in any given year, a taxing entity would still collect new tax revenue from growth and economic development.

Broadnax’s FY 2019-20 budget predicts an increase in property tax revenues of over $83 million, or 8.27 percent more from the previous budget.

More than $29 million of the increased revenue will come from new development.

For those whose property is within Dallas County, Dallas Independent School District, and the city of Dallas, approximately 28.6 percent of their total property tax bill goes to the city.

The city has begun a series of townhalls on the budget, hosted by council members in their respective districts. City council will hold public meetings on the budget on August 28 and September 4 before voting on a final budget and tax rate on September 18.

Robert Montoya

Born in Houston, Robert Montoya is an investigative reporter for Texas Scorecard. He believes transparency is the obligation of government.

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