Collin County has recently been listed as one of 10 counties in Texas with the highest property tax increases, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation earlier this year. | Collin County/Facebook
Collin County has recently been listed as one of 10 counties in Texas with the highest property tax increases, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation earlier this year.
According to the Feb study, property taxes in these ten counties increased faster than the tax's preferred growth rate between 2016 and 2020; this rate is calculated by a combination of inflation and population growth.
"It’s not a stretch to say that property taxes are out of control in the Lone Star State," James Quintero, a Policy Director at Texas Public Policy Foundation wrote in a newsletter on March 3, 2022, discussing property taxes in Texas, "As a result, local governments are getting rich while families are forced to make hard decisions."
Collin County has recently been listed as one of 10 counties in Texas with the highest property tax increases, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation earlier this year.
| Pixabay
Collin County's property taxes increased by 30.8% between 2016 and 2020, increasing from $227.2 million to $297.1 million, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation's report.
During that time period, the city's population and inflation also increased by a collective 20.6%, resulting in a difference of 126.7%.
Additionally, from 2016 to 2020, each of Texas' 10 most populated counties recorded some measure of population growth.
Texas property taxes are distinctive in several ways, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Just the Facts: Property Taxes in Texas' Most Populous Cities, Counties, and School Districts 2nd Edition, a report co-authored by Quintero and Anthony Jones.
According to the report, the first distinction is that property taxes are "the largest tax assessed in Texas," revealing that in 2019, property taxes accounted for roughly half of all tax revenue collected in Texas.
The report also indicated that Texas had 4,256 distinct property taxation units in fiscal year 2019, including some that overlapped.
"The laws and systems surrounding Texas’ property tax are notoriously complicated, oftentimes requiring a taxpayer to seek help through consultants, accountants, advocates, and attorneys," the report states.
The report goes on to state that tax regulations are becoming more complex at a quicker pace than the preferred rate of growth.
According to The Balance, Texas is one of the ten states with the highest property tax rates in the United States, with an average rate of $4,065 per year per household.
Additionally, the Tax Foundation placed Texas sixth highest in 2021 in terms of property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied residence value in 2019.
Alerts Sign-up