Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare has backed a preliminary budget plan that would cut the county property tax rate for the fourth consecutive year.
“Four years ago, we made a promise to the taxpayers of Tarrant County that we would stop treating their money as ours to spend. This budget is the fourth consecutive year we have kept that promise,” wrote O’Hare.
O’Hare says the budget maintains essential services, fully funds public safety, raises pay for law enforcement, and continues merit pay increases for county employees. “We put serious money into mental health because the alternative is paying for it later in our jails and our emergency rooms,” added O’Hare.
The proposal would make non-law-enforcement county employees eligible for a three percent pay increase, while law enforcement officers could receive up to a four percent increase. Detention officers would receive a 2.5 percent increase. Commissioners are expected to consider the employee raises separately from the budget next month.
The proposed Tarrant County and JPS Hospital District property tax rates are both below their respective no-new-revenue rates for the fourth consecutive year. The plan also maintains the maximum homestead exemption for Tarrant County and JPS for the third consecutive year.
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will set the new rate on September 1. The average homeowner would see the combined county and JPS portions of their property tax bill fall by about $16. The total tax dropped slightly from 18.62 cents to 18.6 cents per $100 evaluation.
“Anyone who tells you that cutting taxes means gutting services has not looked at what we just did. We proved the opposite. You cut waste, you set priorities, and you fund the things that [the] government actually exists to do,” O’Hare noted. “However, there is a limit to what a county can do alone. County taxes are one line on a homeowner’s bill, and it is not the biggest one. That is why I am proud to stand with Governor Greg Abbott and support his Property Tax Reform Plan. Capping appraisal growth and delivering appraisal predictability for homeowners would deliver the kind of lasting relief no single county can deliver by itself.”
Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposal for next year would make sweeping changes to Texas’ property tax system. It would require two-thirds voter approval for local property tax increases—including bond elections—limit local government spending, expand taxpayers’ ability to force rollback elections, lower appraisal caps, and ultimately allow voters to abolish school district property taxes on homesteads through a constitutional amendment.
State lawmakers are expected to take up the issue during the next legislative session, which is slated to begin January 12, 2027.
