Chapter 5
Focus on City Taxes
In 2006, 1,044 Texas cities reported taxable value of $944.6 billion, an increase of $88 billion or 10.2 percent from 2005. In 2006, cities levied $5.3 billion in taxes, compared to $4.9 billion in 2005.
As indicated in Figure C, residential homeowners contributed the largest portion of value to cities in 2006, with 54.5 percent of market value. The commercial and industrial sector carried the next largest load, with 33.3 percent of value, including 20.7 percent in real property and 12.6 percent in personal property. Apartment complexes accounted for 6 percent of appraised values, while utilities and vacant lots each accounted for about 2 percent. Rural real properties accounted for 0.9 percent of value. Rural real properties include the market value of rural acreage that does not qualify for productivity appraisal; the productivity value of acreage that qualifies for agricultural and timberland appraisal; and the market value of farm and ranch improvements. Table 20 provides detailed dollar amounts for the appraised value of the various city property categories.
TABLE 20: Dollar Value of City Properties by Category
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| A. Single-family Residential | $ 570,066,401,038 |
| B. Multifamily Residential | 62,939,634,171 |
| C. Vacant Lots | 22,173,087,380 |
| D. Rural Real | 9,122,762,910 |
| F1. Commercial Real | 196,279,922,551 |
| F2. Industrial Real | 19,941,224,566 |
| G. Oil, Gas & Minerals | 2,740,765,175 |
| H. Vehicles | 61,368,603 |
| J. Utilities | $ 19,811,891,070 |
| L1. Commercial Personal | 90,645,964,565 |
| L2. Industrial Personal | 40,859,761,238 |
| M. Other Personal | 1,936,228,785 |
| N. Intangible Personal | 38,360 |
| O. Real Property, Inventory | 5,243,342,327 |
| S. Special Property | 3,825,688,908 |
| Total Appraised Value | $1,045,648,081,647 |
Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Division.
Taxable value reflects deductions for property value not taxable because of applicable homestead exemptions, tax abatements, reinvestment zones and other exemptions. In 2006, 200 cities granted local-option percentage homestead exemptions ranging from 1 to 20 percent, the maximum allowed by law. Table 21 shows all deductions to property value granted by cities.
TABLE 21: Number and Value Lost to Exemptions Granted by Cities
| Type of Exemption |
Number of Cities Granting Exemption |
Number of Exemptions Granted |
Value Lost to Exemptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Optional Over-65 Homestead Exemption (Minimum $3,000) | 682 | 886,177 | $ 28,585,073,550 |
| Local Option Percentage Homestead Exemption (Minimum $5,000) | 197 | 1,609,101 | 37,387,098,327 |
| Disabled or Deceased Veterans Exemptions | 1,021 | 128,177 | 1,154,505,467 |
| 10 Percent Cap on Residence Homesteads | 999 | Not reported | 10,487,975,017 |
| Freeport Exemptions | 150 | 4,591 | 14,282,152,860 |
| Pollution Control | 205 | 1,225 | 1,249,361,831 |
| Water Conservation Initiatives | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Solar and Wind Powered Exemptions | 238 | Not reported | 114,790,735 |
| Historical Exemptions | 78 | Not reported | 563,234,344 |
| Property Redevelopment Tax Abatement | 167 | 1,809 | $ 6,767,916,521 |
Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Division.
The total value lost to exemptions granted by cities was $100,592,108,652 in 2006.
The Texas Constitution, Article XI, Sections 4 and 5, limits the rate at which a city can levy a property tax. The Constitution caps the tax rate for cities of 5,000 or less at $1.50 per $100 of valuation. Larger cities, with populations of 5,000 or more, may levy up to $2.50 per $100 of valuation. A home-rule city may limit this rate to less than $2.50 per $100 of value in its charter. Type B, general-law cities may only levy a property tax of up to 25 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
The average property tax rate in Texas cities in 2006 was $0.4865, up slightly from 2005's $0.4863. The average tax for maintenance and operations was $0.3964 and for debt it was $0.0901. Eighteen Texas cities had tax rates of more than $1.00 per $100 of valuation. The city of Camp Wood in Real County had the highest rate at $1.50, all assessed to retire debt. Four other cities also only assessed taxes for retiring debt. The village of Bee Cave in Travis County assessed the lowest tax rate, at $0.02 per $100 of value. More than half of the cities (550) had tax rates of less than $0.50 per $100 of value.
This report of property taxes includes information on 1,044 cities that levied a property tax in 2006. Table 22 groups the cities according to the appraisal districts in which they are located and lists the appraisal districts in alphabetical order. Some cities appear more than once because more than one appraisal district may appraise property for them. To assist the reader in locating a particular city, Table 23 provides an alphabetical list of cities.
TABLE 22: 2006 Cities Taxable Value, Tax Rate and Levy (PDF, 3.91 MB)
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TABLE 23: City Index (PDF, 1.04 MB)