Property Taxes in Travis
County
What is the cost of
local governments to the average Austin
household?
The Real Estate Council of Austin, Inc. (RECA) conducts an "Austin Combined Cost of Governments Index" study each year. RECA created the index as a tool to track local tax trends and compare them to typical household income growth. The index looks at the taxing rates of Travis County, the Austin Independent School District (AISD), the City of Austin, Capital Metro, Austin Community College (ACC) and the Travis County Hospital District (TCHD). The results for the year 2007 show that local taxes increased by 0.8 percent in 2007 while the median family of four income fell 0.4 percent, leaving an overall tax burden for a family of four of 8.6 percent of their total income. This is the highest tax obligation since RECA began its survey in 1989.
How is the Amount of Property Tax I
Pay Calculated and What Can I Do About It?
Formula
: VALUE X RATE = TAX
Taxable value
of your property X the tax
rate for each jurisdiction =
the property tax you must pay on the
real estate property you own
While many times
citizens pay close attention to property values, the
other side of the equation ---the tax rate--- is equally
as important. Property values
are only one piece of the property tax puzzle. Each year,
local taxing authorities, such as the Board of Trustees
of the AISD or the Austin City Council, set property tax
rates for all real estate within their taxing
jurisdictions. Most Travis County
residents pay taxes to four authorities: ACC, AISD, the
City of Austin and Travis County. These tax rates
are set after each authority examines the needs of
operating budgets and debt payment in relation to the
total taxable value of properties located in the taxing
unit’s jurisdiction. During the
budgetary process, taxing authorities conduct public
hearings between August and September, which include
discussions regarding setting the upcoming fiscal
property tax rate. If you are
interested in how much you pay in property taxes, you
should participate in the budget process to assure
that the tax rate for each taxing jurisdiction is
appropriately set.
Tax Rates (per $100 of
valuation)
|
Taxing
Authority |
ACC |
AISD |
City of Austin |
Travis County |
Travis County Hospital Dist. |
|
2001 |
0.0500 |
1.5486 |
0.4597 |
0.4460 |
N/A |
|
2002 |
0.0500 |
1.5964 |
0.4597 |
0.4660 |
N/A |
|
2003 |
0.0771 |
1.6137 |
0.4928 |
0.4918 |
N/A |
|
2004 |
0.0900 |
1.6230 |
0.4430 |
0.4872 |
0.0779 |
2005 |
0.1000 |
1.6230 |
0.4430 |
0.4872 |
0.0779 |
2006 |
0.0965 |
1.4930 |
0.4126 |
0.4499 |
0.0734 |
2007 |
0.0958 |
1.1630 |
0.4034 |
0.4216 |
0.0693 |
2008 |
0.0954 |
1.2020* |
0.4028 |
0.4006 |
0.0679 |
*Requires Tax Ratification Election - November 4, 2008
Below is contact information on the major taxing jurisdictions in Travis County and the schedules for hearings in 2007. Please note that the Travis County Commissioners Court sets the property tax rate for the Travis County Hospital District.
|
Taxing
Authority |
ACC |
AISD |
City
of Austin |
Travis
County |
TCHD |
|
Budget Hearings
Scheduled |
Public Hearing:
July 7 at 6 p.m. |
Public Hearing:
Aug. 18 at 7 p.m.
|
Public Hearing:
July 24 at 6:00 p.m
.
|
Public
Hearing:
August 13 at 6:00 p.m. &
Sept. 16, 19, & 23
9 a.m. |
Public Hearing:
August 28 at 5:30 p.m.
and
Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
|
|
Contact
Number |
223-7613
Pat Stubbs |
414-2263
Larry
Throm |
974-2610
Greg Canally |
854-9106
Christian
Smith |
978-8151
Carolyn
Konecny |
|
Address |
Highland
Business Center Rm #201
5930 Middle Fiskville Road |
1111 W.
6th Street |
City Council
Hall, Council Chambers, 301 W. 2nd Street |
Commissioner's
Court,
314 West 11th
|
Commissioner's
Court,
314 West 11th
|
|
Consider for
Approval |
July 7 at
6 p.m. |
August 25 at 7 p.m. |
Sept. 8-10 |
Sept. 23 at 9 a.m. |
Sept. 11 at 5:30 p.m. |
How is Property
Value Determined and What Can I Do About It?
The Travis Central Appraisal District
(TCAD) determines the market value of your property using
the following process:
|
Jan - May 2008: In
January, the Travis County Appraiser begins the
process of determining property values based on
recent market data and cost or property income data
from the previous year. |
|
June - July 2008: The
appraisal roll is finalized by the District, and
those rolls are turned over to each taxing
authority. (This must occur before the
jurisdictions begin their budget hearings.) |
|
Aug - Sept 2008: Each
taxing authority begins working on the next
fiscal budget, which includes setting the tax
rates. |
|
Oct - Nov 2008:
Property tax bills are mailed to property owners or
mortgage companies. |
|
Jan 31, 2009: Last
date to submit tax payment before accruing
penalties, interest or legal action. |
What you can do
about it?
- If you disagree with the taxable
value of your property and wish to protest, you may do so
by filing a written protest.
- The appraisal district has protest
forms available, but you need not use an official form.
- A notice of protest is sufficient
if it identifies the owner, the property that is the
subject of the protest and indicates that you are
dissatisfied with a decision made by the appraisal
district.
- You must file your notice of
protest by May 31 or no later than 30 days after the
appraisal district delivers a notice of appraised value
to you, whichever date is later. If you don't file a
notice of protest before the statutory deadlines, you
lose your right to protest. You also lose the right to
file a lawsuit about the taxable value of your
property.
- If you are concerned about how
much you pay in property taxes, you should be sure
the value of your property is properly
assessed.
More
information about taxpayers' rights, remedies and
responsibilities can be found at the CAD
web site
by clicking on the "TCAD office" link.
What Can I Do About
How Public Schools are Financed?
- The
state law that governed school finance, which required school
districts that are classified as "property wealthy," such
as AISD, to send substantial funding to the State of
Texas to be used for the benefit of "property poor"
school districts, was referred to as the
"Robin Hood" plan.
- While the state's financial
commitment to fund public education had fallen to about
40 percent of the total cost, Austin schools, categorized
as "property wealthy," received virtually no state aid.
- It became apparent to many
policymakers, including school district officials and to
the public, that this antiquated method of financing
public schools needed improving, with the State
shouldering more of the public school finance
burden.
- On September 15, 2004, District
Judge John Dietz declared the so-called "Robin Hood" plan
unconstitutional. Judge Dietz stated that the current
school financing system did not allow local districts to
maintain meaningful discretion over their budgets due to
both a capped property tax rate and funds transfers from
"property-rich" districts to "property-poor"
districts.
- On November 22, 2005, the Texas
Supreme Court determined that the amount of money spent
per student is constitutional, at this time, to provide
the constitutionally guaranteed "general diffusion of
knowledge." The Court also determined that most local
school districts must tax property at the state
maximum $1.50 per $100 valuation to provide the "general
diffusion of knowledge," which has created a de
facto and unconstitutional statewide property tax.
- Governor Rick Perry called a
special session to address the Court's ruling. The 3rd
Special Session of the 79th Texas Legislature, which
adjourned May 15, 2006, was dedicated almost exclusively
to reworking school finance in Texas, to include
developing a new business tax structure. Highlights from
the session included:
- A 33% reduction of school
district O&M rate by 2008;
- A $2,000 per teacher pay
raise;
- Expansion of the franchise tax
(1%) to most businesses;
- $1 per pack tax increase on
cigarettes; and
- Mandate the report of accurate
sales price for used cars to tax assessor for
calculating sales taxes
- The new tax
structure takes effect in 2008. The Texas Legislature, which convened in January 2007, considered technical changes to the new business tax, which also take effect in 2008. Additional review is expected when the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2008.
- HB 3928 by Representative Jim Keffer/Senator Steve Ogden was designed to clean up the business tax that the Legislature passed in special session in 2006. The bill clarified that capital gains from the sale of real property are included in the income that is subject to the 90% test for a passive entity. In addition, the bill modified the calculation of tax for small businesses with total revenue between $300,000 and $900,000 by applying a sliding discount scale ranging from an 80 percent discount for taxable entities with total revenue less than $400,000 to a 20 percent discount for taxable entities with total revenue greater than $700,000 but less than $900,000. Under previous law, taxable entities with total revenue of less than $300,000 owe no tax. The bill also provided an optional alternative method for calculating tax for businesses with total revenue of $10 million or less. A qualified taxable entity would calculate tax by multiplying apportioned total revenue by 0.575 percent. A taxable entity electing this calculation would be eligible for the discounts for taxable entities with total revenue less than $900,000, but could not use tax credits or other adjustments. Partnerships are required to include gross rental income instead of net rental income in determining total revenue.
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