The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) has released a study that shows the impact of the 2006 school property tax reduction for every school district in the State. The study is captured in an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to select your school district and home value and see the amount of the savings realized as a result of the 2006 legislation. Here is the result for a $250,000 home in Spring Branch ISD. (Click the image to enlarge)
The TTARA Press Release:
TTARA Research Foundation Releases Property Tax Relief Study
The TTARA Research Foundation today released a study of the 2006 school finance reforms, focusing on the property tax relief part of the package. The study, Property Tax Relief: The $7 Billion Reality, reveals that Texans have indeed benefitted from property tax relief, though several factors have combined to obscure the tax rate cuts:
- Almost all school districts have exercised their local authority to increase tax rates above the state-mandated one-third reduction,
- Many school district voters have approved additional debt service taxes to improve local school facilities,
- Property values continue to rise, and
- City, county, and special district taxes have continued to increase.
While overall property taxes in 2007 were down slightly from 2006; however, compared to 2005, the last year before the tax relief initiative took effect, they were up $1.7 billion. That does not mean Texans did not enjoy substantial property tax relief. Compared to the previous school finance system, school property taxes in 2007 were actually $7 billion lower than they would have been otherwise, the report concludes.
In conjunction with the Foundation report, TTARA has designed a Property Tax Relief Calculator, which is available on our website, please click here. This calculator lets individual property owners calculate the amount of tax savings they have gained from the property tax relief initiative, using their own school district’s tax rates.
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