Elected officials in the small North Texas city of Whitesboro want a big property tax increase, and thanks to a carve-out in the state’s tax laws, they won’t need voters’ approval to get it.
Whitesboro—a city in Grayson County with a population of about 4,200—proposed a property tax rate for 2024 that is a whopping 30 percent higher than the 2023 rate.
The impact on city homeowners’ tax bills will be even worse.
According to the city’s tax notice, the average home value increased 11 percent, and the proposed tax rate will raise the average homeowner’s tax bill by 45 percent—an additional $337 a year.
“We’re trying to fight it, but they seem dead set on the increase,” Whitesboro resident Rebecca Meals posted on X. “We’re going to get taxed out of our homes, and our rentals and commercial properties, too.”
Under property tax reform passed in 2019, city and county tax increases that exceed 3.5 percent automatically trigger a tax rate election.
However, the law includes an exception for cities with fewer than 30,000 residents—which covers 90 percent of Texas municipalities. No public vote is required if the increase does not generate more than a “de minimis” $500,000 in additional property tax revenue.
Whitesboro officials calculated that their proposed rate increase is not high enough to trigger an election or to allow voters to petition the city to hold an election.
Meals noted that the city’s planned tax hike comes on top of Whitesboro school bonds passed in May that increased the average district homeowner’s annual property taxes by $325.
“They’re proposing raising taxes even though we have a huge surplus in the bank right now,” Meals added. “This is not right.”
Local activist group Grayson County Conservatives urged Whitesboro residents to attend their city council meetings. “All of Grayson County residents, you should all take heed! If this happens in Whitesboro, it can happen in all of our towns.”
Whitesboro City Council is holding public hearings on the proposed tax rate and budget during a special meeting on Friday, September 27.
