2000 Annual Property Tax Report
Texas Taxing Units Levy $22.5 Billion in Local Property TaxesFor tax year 2000, local taxing units levied more than $22.5 billion in property taxes, about 11 percent more than in tax year 1999. Local appraisal districts reported 2000 total appraised property values increasing about 9 percent.
Appraised values are property values established by county appraisal districts (CADs) before deducting for exemptions to arrive at taxable values. Local taxing units include counties, school districts, cities, and special districts such as junior colleges, hospitals, utilities, flood control, and rural fire districts. Exemption amounts and types offered by taxing units may vary.
School property taxes - imposed by 1,035 independent school districts and representing 59.5 percent of total property taxes - grew by 11.5 percent to reach $13.4 billion in 2000. Local school taxable values (after exemptions) increased 8.8 percent to reach $848 billion.
City property taxes increased almost 9 percent, exceeding $3.5 billion. Total city taxable property values increased just under 10 percent to reach $627 billion.
County property taxes exceeded $3.2 billion in 2000 for more than a 7-percent increase from 1999. Looking at county general fund tax rates, county taxable values exceeded an 8-percnet increase to reach just under $948 billion.
The levy of special districts rose by 17 percent to total almost $2.4 billion on $1.9 trillion in taxable values. Special districts' boundaries may overlap with other special districts and may extend into more than one county.
Below, Table 1 from the Comptroller's Annual Property Tax Report for Tax Year 2000, compares the tax levies from 1999 to 2000 by type of taxing unit. Each year the Comptroller publishes an annual report on property taxes, required by Property Tax Code Section 5.09. The annual report includes the total appraised values of each CAD and the taxable value, tax rate, and taxes of each taxing unit reporting to the Comptroller.
Table 1: Property Taxes Reported by Unit Type - 1999 vs. 2000
NOTE: Totals may not add due to rounding.
1999 2000 Unit Type No. of Units Tax Levy % Tax Levy No. of Units Tax Levy % Tax Levy % Increase School districts * 1,035 $12,009,923,498 59.2% 1,035 $13,392,336,012 59.5% 11.5% Cities 1,007 $3,247,964,177 16.0% 1,012 $3,530,863,516 15.7% 8.7% Counties 254 $2,979,279,400 14.7% 254 $3,200,919,731 14.2% 7.4% Special districts 1,227 $2,041,041,011 10.1% 1,265 $2,389,110,312 10.6% 17.0% Total 3,523 $20,278,208,086 100.0% 3,566 $22,513,229,571 100.0% 11.0% Includes: County Equalization $22,495,410 $24,269,950 South Texas ISD $7,193,119 $7,819,114
Source: Carole Keeton Rylander, Texas ComptrollerTable 2 shows the growth in property tax levies by the four major types of taxing units since 1985. For these 16 years, the total of all taxing units' property taxes grew 151 percent.
Table 2: Growth of the Property Tax by Unit Type - 1985-2000
* 1991 and 1992 include County Education Districts.
Tax Year Special District Levy County Levy City Levy School Levy Total Property Tax Levy 1985 $1,056,802,000 $1,427,755,000 $1,820,345,000 $4,663,892,000 $8,968,794,000 1986 $1,141,652,000 $1,482,295,000 $1,966,674,000 $5,026,592,000 $9,617,213,000 1987 $1,176,667,000 $1,539,953,000 $2,028,743,000 $5,218,820,000 $9,964,183,000 1988 $1,232,415,000 $1,595,183,000 $2,145,726,000 $5,575,843,000 $10,549,167,000 1989 $1,284,165,144 $1,715,691,860 $2,200,415,156 $6,072,227,279 $11,272,499,439 1990 $1,354,607,273 $1,743,176,612 $2,218,971,749 $6,605,433,619 $11,922,189,253 1991* $1,459,643,501 $1,894,013,461 $2,303,609,801 $7,566,042,099* $13,223,308,862 1992* $1,492,043,534 $1,996,116,460 $2,311,630,199 $8,181,309,478* $13,981,099,671 1993 $1,535,769,813 $2,176,974,573 $2,362,404,482 $8,681,859,148 $14,757,008,016 1994 $1,620,504,796 $2,311,389,149 $2,493,554,910 $9,024,885,601 $15,450,334,456 1995 $1,628,217,607 $2,391,961,283 $2,596,742,540 $9,340,994,056 $15,957,915,486 1996 $1,698,557,436 $2,537,183,937 $2,701,214,386 $9,910,195,171 $16,847,150,930 1997 $1,759,622,591 $2,658,308,076 $2,847,081,480 $10,394,500,372 $17,659,512,519 1998 $1,889,138,306 $2,828,286,927 $3,005,996,060 $11,334,614,289 $19,058,035,582 1999 $2,041,041,011 $2,979,279,400 $3,247,964,177 $12,009,923,498 $20,278,208,086 2000 $2,389,110,312 $3,200,919,731 $3,530,863,516 $13,392,336,012 $22,513,229,571
SOURCE: Carole Keeton Ryalnder, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.Property taxes vs. other taxes
When examining how large a role property taxes play compared to other state and local taxes, it is important to remember that different collection cycles exist. The analysis shown in Figure A below looks at 1999 property taxes ($20.3 billion), which local governments spent in 2000, versus state and other local taxes collected and spent in fiscal year 2000, which ended August 31, 2000.
Figure A: State and Local Sales and Property Taxes as a Percentage of Total Major Taxes
* Figure gives the 1999 local property tax levy, collections from which were spent by local governments in calendar year 2000. Figure also gives amounts collected of other local taxes as well as the major state taxes, which were collected and spent in fiscal year 2000, ending August 31, 2000.
Type Tax Tax Amount Percent of Total Property Tax * $20, 278,208,086 41.1% State Sales Tax $13,976,657,125 28.3% Other State Taxes $11,307,111,717 22.9% Local Sales Taxes ** $3,789,388,956 7.7% Total Taxes $49,351,365,884 100.0%
** Does not include local utility, hotel/motel, mixed beverage, and other taxes.
Source: Carole Keeton Rylander, Texas ComptrollerUsing this comparison basis, major state and local sales taxes and property taxes in 2000 totaled approximately $49 billion. Property taxes remained the single largest type of tax at 41 percent of this total.
State sales taxes, the next largest revenue source at almost $14 billion represented 28 percent of the total. When combined with other state taxes -- such as motor fuels and motor vehicle taxes, the franchise tax, oil and gas severance taxes, "sin" taxes, and others -- the state's share of the total tax levy is 51 percent.
Local city and county sales taxes, along with metropolitan transit authority (MTA) taxes, dropped to 7.7 percent of the total, down from 8.4 percent from the preceding year.
Freeport exemption
One exemption tracked in the Annual Report is the freeport exemption. The Property Tax Code Section 11.251 defines freeport property as goods held in Texas temporarily for up to 175 days for assembling, processing, manufacturing, storage, or other purposes. In 1990, school districts, counties, cities, and junior college districts gained the right to choose whether or not to tax freeport property. State law required other special districts, such as water districts or hospital districts, to exempt freeport property, beginning in 1990.
While the vast majority of school districts, counties, cities, and junior college districts continue to tax freeport property, the number of units that exempt freeport property from taxation increased by 19 taxing units in 2000 to 238. The amount of value exempted for these taxing units also increased more than 32 percent to $25.1 billion.
Some junior college districts also exempt freeport property, but the Comptroller's Property Tax Division does not collect data from these entities for that information.
Table 3 below lists the total exempted value by counties, cities, and school districts for the freeport exemption for 1999 and 2000.
Table 3: Taxing Units That Exempt Freeport Property
Source: Carole Keeton Rylander, Texas Comptroller
Types of Taxing Units That Exempt Freeport Property 1999 Number of Units Taxable Value Loss 2000 Number of Units Taxable Value Loss County 40 $6.4 billion 42 $9.3 billion City 94 $6.7 billion 101 $8.6 billion School District 85 $5.9 billion 95 $7.2 billion Total 219 $419.0 billion 238 $25.1 billion Report available
The Comptroller's Annual Property Tax Report for Tax Year 2000 is available. The agency will send one copy to members of the Texas Legislature and to each county appraisal district and county tax office. To order an Annual Report, send a check or money order for $10 to the Comptroller's Property Tax Division, P. O. Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528.
For more information, please e-mail the Comptroller's property tax technical assistance at ptd.cpa@cpa.state.tx.us. Or, call the Property Tax Division at 1-800-252-9121, option 2. In Austin, call (512) 305-9999.
