Email (excerpted), James Quintero, director, Center for Local Governance, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Nov. 7, 2014

3:06 p.m.

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In the City of Austin’s proposed budget for FY 2015 (Vol. 1, pg. 20), city officials estimate average property tax burdens among Texas’ major metropolitans (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio). The measure selected to make the comparison is “the percentage of median family income a resident who owns a median-value home pays in property taxes”. As you can see below, the City of Austin’s current FY 2014 tax burden ranks in the middle tier of this comparison. However, an examination of the long-term trends suggests that its property tax burden is indeed fast-growing.

According to the chart below, the percentage of median family income spent on property tax bills for median-value homes in the Austin area represented a little less than 1.1% in FY 2008. In FY 2014, that figure had increased to just under 1.5%, representing an increase of 0.4%. Other cities demonstrated smaller increases over the same period (Approximations -- Dallas: +0.3%; San Antonio: 0.1%; Fort Worth: +0.15%; and Houston: 0.1%).

Based on this information, it is reasonable to conclude that the trajectory of Austin’s property tax burden is growing and it’s growing quickly compared to other major metropolitan areas in the state.

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James Quintero

Texas Public Policy Foundation

Director, Center for Local Governance