After hiking property taxes, the Arlington City Council is asking citizens to raise the prices of goods and services by hiking the city’s sales tax. The Arlington Independent School District is also asking citizens to hike their property tax bills.
In this year’s November election, Arlington citizens will not only cast their vote for the next American president, but they’ll also vote on potentially hiking their property tax bills from their school district and hiking the sales tax they pay to the highest rate allowed by state law.
The city council voted 9-0 in September to raise property taxes. According to data from the Tarrant Appraisal District, the tax rate adopted by city council increased the average homeowner’s city tax bill over 3 percent from last year and over 57 percent from 2013.
The board of the Arlington ISD is asking citizens to significantly raise their own property tax bills.
According to data from TAD, the school board’s proposed tax rate would hike the school’s property tax bill for average homeowners by over 10 percent from last year and over 66 percent from 2013. Last year, school officials hiked these same tax bills close to 6 percent from where they were in 2018.
These asks come after citizens have suffered from government mandates in response to the Chinese coronavirus, resulting in consequences such as the closing of thousands of businesses.
A recent report found that Texas’ statewide debt is so large than an additional $11,000 is needed from each taxpayer—on top of what they already pay—in order to clear it.
“The sales tax proposition is an endless blank check with no oversight,” grassroots activist Kelly Canon told Texas Scorecard. “Both props will raise our taxes! One is a sales tax, and one is a property tax hike!”
“Vote ‘no’ on both,” she exclaimed.
Early voting begins on October 13 for the November 3 election.
This article has been updated since publication.
