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2002 Annual Property Tax Report

Texas Taxing Units Levy $27 Billion in Local Property Taxes

Comptroller's Report
Property Value Study and S.B. 671
School Tax Ceiling Certificate
Optional Tax Limitation
September 13 Election Results

In 2002, about 3,653 local taxing units levied more than $27 billion in property taxes, about 8 percent more than in 2001.

Local property taxes use appraised values established by county appraisal districts (CADs). CADs deduct exemptions from appraised value 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 other special purpose districts. Exemption amounts and types offered by taxing units may vary.

School property taxes — imposed by 1,033 independent school districts (after consolidations) and representing about 60 percent of total property taxes — totaled more than $16.4 billion in 2002, about 8 percent more than in 2001. Local school taxable values (after exemptions) increased 6 percent to reach $1 trillion.

City property taxes also increased about 8 percent to more than $4 billion. Total city taxable property values for 1,031 cities increased 6.5 percent, to $736 billion.

County property taxes topped $3.8 billion in 2002, with an 8 percent increase. Looking at county general funds, county taxable values increased almost 6 percent to more than $1 trillion.

The levy of 1,337 special districts rose by 6 percent to total just under $2.9 billion. Special districts’ boundaries may overlap with other special districts and may extend into more than one county.

Table 1 from the Comptroller’s Annual Property Tax Report for Tax Year 2002 compares the tax levies from 2001 to 2002 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 - 2001 vs. 2002
  2001 2002
Unit Type No. of Units Tax Levy Percent of Levy No. of Units Tax Levy Percent of Levy Percent Increase
School districts* 1,035 $15,155,217,587 59.9% 1,033 $16,418,788,831 60.1% 8.3%
Cities 1,027 $3,884,829,249 15.3% 1,031 $4,186,795,363 15.3% 7.8%
Counties 254 $3,566,857,130 14.1% 254 $3,849,728,346 14.1% 7.9%
Special districts 1,288 $2,703,512,059 10.7% 1,337 $2,864,454,984 10.5% 6.0%
Total 3,604 $25,310,416,025 100.0% 3,655 $27,319,767,524 100.0% 7.9%
*Includes:
County Equalization   $25,907,038     $26,870,618  
South Texas ISD   $9,140,424     $9,816,979  
SOURCE: Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Table 2 shows the growth in property tax levies by the four major types of taxing units since 1985. For these 18 years, the total of all taxing units' property taxes grew 205 percent.

TABLE 2: Growth of the Property Tax by Unit Type - 1985-2002
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
2001 $2,703,512,059 $3,566,857,130 $3,884,829,249 $15,155,217,587 $25,310,416,025
2002 $2,864,454,984 $3,849,728,346 $4,186,795,363 $16,418,788,831 $27,319,767,524
*1991 and 1992 include County Education Districts.
SOURCE: Carole Keeton Strayhorn, 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 looks at 2001 property taxes ($25.3 billion), which local governments spent in 2002, versus state and other local taxes collected and spent in fiscal 2002, which ended August 31, 2002.

Figure A

Using this comparison basis, major state and local sales taxes and property taxes in 2002 totaled approximately $55.5 billion. Property taxes remained the single largest type of tax at almost 46 percent of this total.

State sales taxes, the next largest revenue source at $14.5 billion, represented just over 26 percent of the total. When combined with other state taxes — such as motor fuels and motor vehicle taxes, franchise tax, oil and gas severance taxes, "sin" taxes and others — the state's share of the total tax levy is about 47 percent.

Local city and county sales taxes, along with metropolitan transit authority (MTA) taxes, were 7.1 percent of the total, compared to 7.4 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 temporarily held in Texas 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 13 taxing units in 2002 to 274. The amount of value exempted for these taxing units dropped from $33 billion to $30 billion, or about 10 percent.

Some junior college districts also exempt freeport property, but the Comptroller’s Property Tax Division does not collect data from these entities.

Table 3 lists the total exempted value by counties, cities and school districts for the freeport exemption for 2001 and 2002.

TABLE 3: Taxing Units That Exempt Freeport Property
Types of Taxing Units That Exempt Freeport Property 2001 Number of Units 2001 Taxable Value Loss 2002 Number of Units 2002 Taxable Value Loss
County 46 $11.8 billion 46 $10.3 billion
City 109 $10.8 billion 115 $9.6 billion
School District 106 $10.6 billion 113 $10.0 billion
Total 261 $33.2 billion 274 $29.9 billion
SOURCE: Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Comptroller’s Annual Report

The Comptroller’s Annual Property Tax Report for Tax Year 2002 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 Division 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.