AUSTIN – Texas has the second highest property taxes in the nation, according to a new study by RealtyTrac, a real estate data firm. New York has the highest.
Property tax reform is a controversial issue in the current session of the Texas Legislature. The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is leading a campaign protesting tax appraisals on Texas commercial properties.
Also, Texas legislators are considering tax reform bills and suggest homeowners bear too much of the tax burden.
Last week, Texas Senator Rodney Ellis introduced SB 1084, saying the bill “aims to close loopholes in Texas property tax which shift an unfair burden on homeowners while allowing commercial property owners to avoid paying their fair share.”
According to RealtyTrac, states with the highest effective property tax rates were New York (3.01 percent), Texas (2.18 percent), Illinois (2.15 percent), Connecticut (2.11 percent) and New Jersey (2.01 percent).
Property taxes in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, are some of the highest property taxes in the nation, according to the U.S. Property Tax Rates Report produced by RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif.
Among the 1,042 counties analyzed in the report, those with the highest effective property tax rates in 2014 were Westchester County, New York, (7.53 percent), Bexar County, Texas, in the San Antonio area (3.32 percent), and De Kalb County in the Chicago area (3.27 percent).
“State laws like Prop 13 in California give a property tax advantage to homeowners who have owned for a longer time, but the bell curve in effective property tax rates in the middle of the years-owned spectrum indicates that many who purchased during the housing bubble — or in the years leading up to the housing bubble — may be paying taxes based on a still-inflated valuation of their properties,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “These homeowners should consider appealing their property’s assessment if that is an option available to them in their county.”