Local taxpayers in the Amarillo area will soon be paying their tax bills for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, each of which will be determined by the tax rates their local governments have already set.

For the past several months, Amarillo-area taxing entities have been finalizing tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year. Several entities adopted higher tax rates for the upcoming year, while some have adopted a lower tax rate than last year, such as the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District.

Year-to-year comparisons of property tax rates are useless, as property valuations fluctuate yearly. If local government officials don’t lower the tax rate enough to offset growth in property value, your property tax bill could still increase despite the tax rate being lowered. The property tax rate local governments can adopt that would, in the aggregate, keep homeowners’ property tax bill more or less the same from last year is called the no-new-revenue rate. This rate is part of an effort to keep tax bills stable even as property values rise, though individual results may vary.

While these tax rates have been adopted, the finality of one tax rate below still hangs in the balance. The City of Amarillo’s adopted tax rate of $0.48404 is higher than the voter-approval tax rate for this fiscal year and would effectively result in a tax increase of more than 24 percent for Amarillo taxpayers. Due to the size of this increase, voters will decide whether or not this rate should be ratified during the November 2 general election. If the passage of this increase fails, taxpayers will see an adopted tax rate that will still be higher than the previous year’s tax rate, but not as high as the proposed tax rate.

Here is a look at each entity’s tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year:

Amarillo ISD — $1.1496 per $100 valuation

Amarillo College — $0.21129 per $100 valuation

Canyon ISD — $1.233 per $100 valuation

City of Amarillo — $0.48404 per $100 valuation

City of Canyon — $0.42618 per $100 valuation

Highland Park ISD (Amarillo) — $1.0848 per $100 valuation

High Plains Underground Water Conservation District — $0.0051 per $100 valuation

River Road ISD — $1.2397 per $100 valuation

Potter County — $0.70595 per $100 valuation

Randall County — $0.444210 per $100 valuation

Citizens who want information about individual tax rates and property valuations in Amarillo can visit the Potter-Randall Appraisal District website.

Thomas Warren

Thomas Warren, III is the editor-in-chief of the Amarillo Pioneer newspaper in Amarillo, Texas.

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