With no statewide income tax, Texas relies heavily on property taxes to fund the operation of cities, counties, and public education. A new report shows major cities in Texas have some of the highest property tax rates in the nation.

 

The Major Tax Revenue Source

 

Census Bureau data shows that in aggregate, property taxes are the biggest source of tax revenue for state and local governments.

 

Nationally, state and local property taxes totaled $617 billion in 2019, or 39 percent of total state and local government tax revenue. Property tax revenue amounted to $159 billion more than the next largest state and local government tax revenue source, individual income taxes.

 

Rankings

 

Real estate investing website Roofstock ranked large cities based on their effective property tax rates. To improve relevance, only cities with at least 350,000 people were included in the analysis.

 

While Milwaukee, Wisconsin came in as number one, major cities in Texas accounted for seven of the top 11 cities on the high tax rate list.

 

Rank		City	Effective Property Tax Rate
1.		Milwaukee, Wisconsin	2.17%
2.		El Paso, Texas	2.13%
3.		Fort Worth, Texas	1.86%
4.		San Antonio, Texas	1.85%
5.		Arlington, Texas	1.75%
6.		Omaha, Nebraska	1.71%
7.		Columbus, Ohio	1.62%
8.		Austin, Texas	1.53%
9.		Cleveland, Ohio	1.51%
10.		Dallas, Texas	1.49%
11.		Houston, Texas	1.48%

 

Tax rates set by local jurisdictions are just one part of the formula determining property tax bills. Assessed values are also key. Tax rates cannot be appealed but assessed values can. Proactive appeals are the best way business property owners can ensure their tax burden is fair and reasonable.