Harris County homeowners are facing another increase in their county property-tax burden as commissioners move forward with a budget that would increase spending by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The proposed budget would increase county spending by about 12 percent, or roughly $327 million.
For the average homeowner, that could mean paying about 12 percent more in county property taxes next year — an increase of roughly $148, according to county estimates.
And for homeowners, the bigger question may be what happens if county taxes, along with city and school district taxes, continue increasing at a similar pace.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, says the county’s spending is growing much faster than population and inflation.
“The population increased by one percent and inflation was about three percent… If we had had say a 4% increase… in the overall spending of the Harris County budget, that would have seemed reasonable. On the other hand, what we have is three times that at 12%,” Jones said.
Jones says the average homeowner could see a significant increase in the county portion of their property-tax bill.
“What we’re seeing for the average homeowner is something approximating a 12% increase in the property taxes that they pay next year,” Jones said.
He says that would add to increases homeowners have already seen over the past several years.
“This will represent a 30% increase for most homeowners compared to what they were paying back in 2023,” Jones said.
What’s driving the increase?
County officials say the additional spending is needed to fund services and deal with rising costs.
Jones says some of the biggest pressures include law enforcement, employee health care and programs that were originally funded with temporary federal pandemic money.
“When you combine an increase for law enforcement, an increase in healthcare spending, and an increase in spending on these discretionary programs, that gets us to every homeowner on average paying about 12% more in 2027,” Jones said.
Jones says roughly 15 to 20 percent of county expenditures go toward programs that are not required by state law.
Those can include programs involving housing, indigent defense and other social services.
That has also raised a broader question about what county government should be responsible for providing — and how much taxpayers should pay for those services.
Critics question the pace of spending
Bill King, a fellow at the Baker Institute, says this year’s increase is unusual compared with other counties.
“There’s very few counties around the state that are increasing their spending by 12 percent in one year. This is very much an outlier,” King said.
King says the county has also added thousands of employees and increased compensation and health-care costs.
“The county has added over 2,000 employees in the last three years,” King said.
He argues the county could have used additional revenue generated by new construction to absorb some of its rising costs without increasing the tax rate as much.
“This year, they would have gotten about an extra $100 million in revenue had they just the tax rate the same,” King said.
King says the continued increases are especially concerning as housing affordability remains an issue.
“We’re living in a time where everybody is worried about affordability, right? I mean, especially home affordability,” King said.
What does it mean for homeowners?
The county tax is only one part of a homeowner’s total property-tax bill.
Depending on where they live, homeowners may also pay property taxes to their school district, city and other taxing entities.
Jones says the combined effect can make homeownership increasingly expensive.
“As the county raises property taxes, as the independent school district raise property taxes and for those living in cities as the cities raise property taxes, it increasingly makes homeownership less and less affordable,” Jones said.
King agrees.
“It just makes it less and less affordable to live in Harris County,” King said.
Jones says homeowners should compare the growth in their tax burden with the growth in their income.
“People can ask themselves, are they seeing a 12% increase in their income this year in terms of a 12 percent raise or a 12 percent bonus? And if the answer is no, then their income is not keeping up with the property tax burden,” Jones said.
And homeowners could face an even larger bill if the taxable value of their property increases.
That means the impact of the county’s tax increase can vary from homeowner to homeowner.
Could homeowners see more increases?
Jones says the county’s budget has what he describes as a structural imbalance between spending and revenue.
He expects the tension between funding county programs and limiting property taxes to continue.
“The most likely scenario is that Harris County Commissioner’s Court will continue to have a majority that favors increased spending over reduced property taxes,” Jones said.
King says the county’s spending decisions could ultimately affect where people choose to live.
“Sure, move. And that’s what, obviously, in the last 10 years, 300,000 people have made that decision,” King said.
Both experts point to surrounding counties as alternatives for people looking for lower property-tax costs, although the decision to move depends on much more than taxes, including home prices, insurance, jobs and access to services.
What can homeowners do?
For homeowners concerned about their individual tax bill, one option is to review their property’s appraised value and protest it if they believe the valuation is too high.
A lower taxable value can reduce the amount of property taxes owed, although it does not change the tax rate itself.
Homeowners can also look at each taxing entity listed on their property-tax bill to see how much they are paying to the county, school district, city and other local governments.
Ultimately, Jones says taxpayers have to consider whether the services they receive justify the additional cost.
“Taxpayers have to look at what the county is doing and decide, are there the benefits from the services the county is providing that are sufficiently large that they merit an increase in taxes?” Jones said.
For Harris County homeowners, the concern is no longer simply the cost of this year’s tax increase.
It’s whether repeated increases from the county and other local governments will continue to push the overall cost of owning a home higher — and how that compares with what families are earning.
The budget debate therefore goes beyond one number.
It is a question of how much local government costs, what taxpayers receive in return, and how sustainable homeownership is as those costs continue to rise.
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