Tarrant County homeowners will get further tax relief this year amid, after county commissioners approved the creation of two new homestead exemptions.
are measures that 鈥榚xempt鈥� a certain amount of a property鈥檚 value from taxation. Under the Texas tax code, taxing units like the county are allowed to adopt an of up to 20% of a property鈥檚 appraised value. These optional homestead exemptions are in addition to , including school district exemptions.
The first optional homestead exemption commissioners approved excludes 10% of a home鈥檚 appraised value from taxation by the county. That means residents will see an average decrease of about $34 in the property taxes they owe to the county.
鈥淩ight now it looks small, but I鈥檒l tell you every dime helps,鈥� County Judge Tim O鈥橦are said.
The exemption was unanimously approved by commissioners, and multiple residents from across Fort Worth, Arlington and Euless spoke in favor of it.
鈥淗omeowners need, demand and expect a homeowners tax exemption,鈥� Arlington resident Steve Eckland said.
The exemption will cost the county between $28 and $30 million in revenue, county administrator G.K. Maenius told commissioners. The county has not yet earmarked specific programs to be cut from the budget.
Ramirez told those in attendance that while he鈥檚 proud of the exemption, efforts to provide tax relief can鈥檛 stop at the county level. He said there needs to be more work done by the , cities and school districts to also lessen the burden on residents. Last month, Fort Worth signaled a willingness to i.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the end of the work,鈥� Ramirez said. 鈥淲e have to reach out to other entities and make sure they鈥檙e doing their part.鈥�
The second proposed homestead exemption proved more controversial than the first.
Commissioners approved another 10% homestead exemption, but this time for the Tarrant County Hospital District, by a 3-2 vote, to further reduce residents鈥� property tax burden. O鈥橦are and commissioners Manny Ramirez and Gary Fickes voted yes on the measure, while commissioners Roy Brooks and Alisa Simmons voted no.
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The Tarrant County Hospital District, known as , was first created in 1959 in order to provide consistent funding for the city-county hospital. The network receives about from Tarrant County taxpayers, according to a Q&A from the network. No JPS Health Network employees were in attendance at the Commissioners Court meeting.
A look at JPS Health Network鈥檚 shows that it is continuing to bring in more revenue than it is spending, and that revenue brought in from patient services continues to increase, O鈥橦are said.
鈥淭hey have presented budgets that have included tens of millions of dollars annually in revenue in excess of their expenses,鈥� he said. 鈥淭heir year over year increases鈥� have been driven by increases in property tax revenues, by and large.鈥�
For Ramirez, JPS Health Network should be praised for finding more ways to bring in non-tax revenue.
鈥淲hen it comes to raising that revenue, we have to remember the purpose,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he purpose for that is to lower the tax revenue side of it. It鈥檚 supposed to balance out.鈥�
Commissioners Brooks and Simmons cautioned that taking away revenue from JPS Health Network now could endanger the progress of a approved in 2018. The bond program is already over budget by several hundred million, according to .
鈥淲e are in the middle of an expansion鈥� both in facilities and outreach to underserved populations,鈥� Brooks said.
If the hospital network doesn鈥檛 have enough revenue to pay for its debt, he said, it could see its bond ratings plummet. That, in turn, would make future bonds more expensive for the county.
鈥淚n a county that is growing as rapidly as Tarrant County is growing, it is difficult to keep up with the ability to provide increased levels of service to increased populations without increased dollars,鈥� Brooks said.
Optional homestead exemptions must be approved before July 1 in order to apply to the year鈥檚 property tax bills. As the exemptions were approved by the commissioners June 6, both will be in effect for this year鈥檚 payments.
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