Texans...anyone else seeing a large property tax increase?

Cheetah-kins said:
And how about not taking money from childless couples to pay for schools and other child related needs. I've noticed all the people angry about high taxes never seem to mention that side of things, since of course they all have kids and are just fine making childless couples subsidize them.
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When I read something like this, I ask the writer how many idiots have they run into over the last week. And wouldn't it be nice if some force somewhere made those people just a little bit smarter? 😁

Educating a town means you wind up with a smarter town which improves quality of life. Maybe your cashier makes change properly. Your mechanic guesses better and throws fewer parts at your car.
 
xspeedy said:
It isn’t that bad. These outfits charge too much, and at least for our commercial property, it was too invasive. All you need to do is know a realtor, and have him pull recent sales for dwellings in your proximity. Find the ones that are close to your home, the “cheapest”, and determine the value per square foot. Then present that data. I was able to knock some $50K off my assessment. The big problem is that the sales data isn’t public, so you need someone with MLS access.
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“ All you need to do is know a realtor, and have him pull recent sales for dwellings in your proximity.”

I already know this, hence one of the several reasons it’s an unfair grift. The general public doesn’t have access to MLS and would need access every year. Even then you are at the mercy of the tax appraiser and their farce of an appeals process.
 
Cheetah-kins said:
And how about not taking money from childless couples to pay for schools and other child related needs. I've noticed all the people angry about high taxes never seem to mention that side of things, since of course they all have kids and are just fine making childless couples subsidize them.
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Absolutely not. Children are the future and it rests on them. We're here to teach and lead them; the only reason we're not a developing country is because of accessible and affordable public education. I'm fine with paying taxes for public education and other public services like police and fire.

However, what those on power are doing to the school and tax system is.....something else.
 
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fdcg27 said:
I will be seventy this year along with my wife and I consider the notion of giving tax preferences to the wealthiest age cohort in America misguided at best.
Yes, there are struggling older Americans, but there are many more younger American families struggling with the expenses of child rearing, the cost of feeding their families and the cost of housing them.
How about some help for the poorer among us before those of us who are relatively well off?
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It lowers mine for school tax only. Being I paid on that well before, during, and far after kid’s school age - I think it’s fair.
Our small school district never stops with large “facility projects” - tens of millions - whilst the Catholic school spends little on that fluff - yet blows public schools away in achievement …
 
JeffKeryk said:
As others have said, the state funds have to come from somewhere. CA has higher state income tax, based on taxable salary. For lower earners, it is actually lower than many states. Texas needs $$ just like every other state.
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Yep, I have lived in 4 states, 2 supposedly very skewed one way and two supposedly skewed the other. Taxes net about the same.

I will say California may be an even nuttier level of taxation but with prop 13 property taxes are capped at least. They are here as well - equates to approximately 3% per year. The downside here is our county has now figured out if they allow a million rental apartments be built they can tax them as commercial instead - so the crooks always find a way around. I will likely move now sooner than later.

So after all that rambling - I would live in either type of state again, but I will never live in a state that does not cap property taxes. It simply leaves local govco's - which are the most corrupt usually, a way to steal.
 
JeffKeryk said:
As others have said, the state funds have to come from somewhere. CA has higher state income tax, based on taxable salary. For lower earners, it is actually lower than many states. Texas needs $$ just like every other state.
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I have a choice on how much to spend on a home. We chose to not stretch home mortgages - stay below our means - speed up pay-off (done) - do some remodeling and landscaping …
I just marvel at those who tell me how much money they made off a home - but without the comprehensive spreadsheets ? 🧐
(Bought for X and sold for Y) …
 
clinebarger said:
No state property tax in Texas, My statement is itemized....City, County, ISD, Water district, & Community College.
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However hands down Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the USA which I just found surprising.
It's tricky as all local governments tax so the chart shows the "median" tax.

Example where we live, North Carolina Median is .78% of assessed value however our taxes on the Southeast coast are only .34% (POINT 34 percent) which is freaking amazing, among the lowest in the entire state, way less than I paid in South Carolina, because in SC we lived in the second highest taxed county.

Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 9.35.33 AM.webp


Source and median tax rate list by state in the link +
https://www.tax-rates.org/taxtables/property-tax-by-state

@JeffKeryk
CA median tax rate is almost as cheap as NC...Texas is right up there with the entire Northeast (gulp) which is surprising to me.
 
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4wd said:
I have a choice on how much to spend on a home. We chose to not stretch home mortgages - stay below our means - speed up pay-off (done) - do some remodeling and landscaping
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Good on you! But without restraints governments can still jack up your property taxes to the point it forces you to sell your paid off home because they've assessed it at three times what you purchased it for. Taxing an unrealized gain should be illegal.

Scott
 
cptbarkey said:
“ All you need to do is know a realtor, and have him pull recent sales for dwellings in your proximity.”

I already know this, hence one of the several reasons it’s an unfair grift. The general public doesn’t have access to MLS and would need access every year. Even then you are at the mercy of the tax appraiser and their farce of an appeals process.
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www.zillow.com you can find every sale price in your community
 
Every darn year. They always go for the max jump of 10% in Harris county. I use O'Connor firm to fight it as the one time I drove all the way out to the HCAD office, they talked to me in the third person and belittled my claims of being overcharged because I lived in a nice neighborhood. Typically the firm can get the tax value down and I pay them for half of the tax savings but last year they didn't get it down a nickel.
 
slo town said:
This is exactly why California has Prop 13 property tax protection that limits property tax increases to a maximum of 2% per year. This initiative was enacted in 1976.

At the time property values were increasing so rapidly people were losing their homes because they could no longer afford their property taxes. This is one thing California has done right, but the super majority government we have in Cali has for years tried everything it can to repeal it.

Scott
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Ya but is has severely distorted the residential market because there is a huge adjustment for buyers of the real estate and unless you're relocating out of state there's also a disincentive to sell.
 
alarmguy said:
However hands down Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the USA which I just found surprising.
It's tricky as all local governments tax so the chart shows the "median" tax.

Example where we live, North Carolina Median is .78% of assessed value however our taxes on the Southeast coast are only .34% (POINT 34 percent) which is freaking amazing, among the lowest in the entire state, way less than I paid in South Carolina, because in SC we lived in the second highest taxed county.

View attachment 331928

Source and median tax rate list by state in the link +
https://www.tax-rates.org/taxtables/property-tax-by-state

@JeffKeryk
CA median tax rate is almost as cheap as NC...Texas is right up there with the entire Northeast (gulp) which is surprising to me.
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Thank you for the chart.

I wonder what "rates" really mean. California is "only" 0.74% but a shack in a bad neighborhood is $2M?

Texas doesn't surprise me - no income tax, reasonable sale tax, no property tax on vehicles, etc. But what is up with places like Nebraska and Michigan?
 
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slo town said:
Good on you! But without restraints governments can still jack up your property taxes to the point it forces you to sell your paid off home because they've assessed it at three times what you purchased it for. Taxing an unrealized gain should be illegal.

Scott
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They have it slightly elevated - so we don’t fight it …
There may come a point in time - we’ll see …
 
SC Maintenance said:
Thank you for the chart.

I wonder what "rates" really mean. California is "only" 0.74% but a shack in a bad neighborhood is $2M?

Texas doesn't surprise me - no income tax, reasonable sale tax, no property tax on vehicles, etc. But what is up with places like Nebraska and Michigan?
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And again - folks know this before they sign the paperwork …
The real estate sites need to be double checked on estimation of taxes and fees - so folks need to be pragmatic …
 
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