A for sale sign stands in the yard of a home in the Fairmount neighborhood of Fort Worth on Thursday, February 10, 2022. Historic neighborhoods, like Fairmount, are some of the most competitive in Tarrant County when it comes to home sales due to the limited supply and high demand.

Amanda McCoy

amccoy@star-telegram.com

If you own a home in Tarrant County, next year’s tax and utility bills are coming into focus, though the picture depends on which city you live in.

Fort Worth, Arlington, Tarrant County and the JPS Hospital Network have all released proposed budgets for the 2027 fiscal year. Between them, they set the property tax rates and utility fees that hit your bank account every month. Here’s a plain-English breakdown of what you can expect to pay, based on figures presented to local officials this month.

Tarrant County and JPS: small savings, three years running

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Tarrant County commissioners want to lower the county property tax rate for the fourth year in a row.

The proposed county rate would drop to 18.6 cents per $100 of valuation, down slightly from 18.62 cents, according to the Star-Telegram. For the owner of an average-value home, that works out to about 17 cents in savings over the full year.

The bigger break comes from the JPS Hospital Network, whose tax rate would fall to 15.9 cents per $100 valuation from 16.5 cents. Combined, the two lines on your bill are expected to drop by about $16.

Both rates come in below the no-new-revenue rate, meaning the county isn’t collecting the same total tax dollars as last year from previously taxed properties.

Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare said cutting property taxes is a top priority.

“We all know affordability is an issue in the country, and the No. 1 thing government can do to make things more affordable is lowering property taxes,” O’Hare said. “We’ve done it for three years, and then we’re going to do it in year four.”

The proposed county budget also includes a 3% raise for most employees, a 4% raise for law enforcement officers, a 2.5% raise for detention officers and a 1% cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.

Commissioners will set the proposed rate Sept. 1 and vote on the final budget and tax rate Sept. 15.

Fort Worth: rate goes up, but tax bill goes down

If you live in Fort Worth, the math looks unusual this year: the tax rate is climbing, but the typical tax bill is shrinking.

City Manager Jay Chapa told the City Council on Aug. 11 that Fort Worth is facing a $76.8 million budget shortfall driven by appraisal values that came in even lower than expected, according to the Star-Telegram. To close part of that gap, the recommended tax rate for the 2027 fiscal year is 70.2 cents per $100 of value — up 3.2 cents from the current 67-cent rate.

Even so, a typical Fort Worth homeowner is projected to pay $16.69 less in city property taxes because property values have fallen. The owner of a $335,000 home with a homestead exemption would pay $1,881.36 in city property taxes.

The relief on the tax line is offset elsewhere. Fort Worth homeowners will pay roughly $7 more per month in solid waste, environmental, stormwater and wastewater services combined.

The proposed budget includes an 8.5% pay increase for firefighters and a 6% pay increase for police, along with 77 new police officer hires. Some vacant city positions would be eliminated or frozen.

The city council is expected to vote on the budget on Sept. 15.

Arlington: water and garbage go up, property tax bill goes down

Arlington’s proposed budget keeps the city property tax rate flat at 62.98 cents per $100 of value, according to the Star-Telegram. The average taxable home value dropped from $249,956 last year to $238,180 this year, so the average homeowner would pay about $74.17 less in city property taxes.

Utility bills are moving the other way. Water rates would increase 6.37%, or $61.20 per year, and garbage rates would rise 3.5%, or $8.16 per year. Stormwater fees stay unchanged.

Add it all up, and City Manager Trey Yelverton says an Arlington homeowner would see total city costs drop by about 40 cents per month, or $4.81 for the year. Yelverton said increases were added only where “truly necessary.”

The proposed budget also invests $5.4 million more in street maintenance (a 25% increase), $1.1 million for 10 new police patrol vehicles, and $4.6 million in IT improvements, including the first phase of replacing the 911 dispatch system. Animal services would return to a six-day schedule, and the library’s collection budget would grow by $100,000. The city plans to eliminate 22 vacant positions.

Arlington will hold budget town halls Aug. 13 and Aug. 26 and a public hearing Sept. 8, with a City Council vote in September.