Property Tax News
Tarrant County court adopts trendy new property tax scheme to lower taxes
Tarrant County residents got cut a break: The Tarrant County Commissioners Court adopted new tax rates for 2024 that fall "Below No-New-Revenue Rate" — a jargon-y way of saying there won't be an increase in taxes.
The No New Revenue Tax Rate is a tax rate that generates no additional revenue for the county.
The county tax rate on all property was lowered by 13.17 percent to 19.45 cents per $100 valuation.
The court has also instituted local homestead exemptions of 10 percent.
The two actions combined are predicted to provide property tax relief.
No new revenue rate
Adopting property tax rates at or below the no-new-revenue rate ultimately results in lower property tax bills.
The no-new-revenue tax rate is a sufficiently complicated concept that there are multiple websites that try to offer an explainer. Good luck with that.
The release from Tarrant County says that the new rate is below the “No-New-Revenue” Rate — the rate where local government revenues would remain neutral year-over-year after factoring in appraisal growth.
This explanation is better: It's "a calculated rate that would provide the taxing unit with about the same amount of revenue it received in the year before."
Cities in northeast Tarrant County such as Keller, Colleyville, and Southlake have subscribed to the no-new-revenue rate. It's a hot trend.
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court also recently approved an $896.6 million budget for the County, which is $8.1 million less than the previous budget.
Despite the decrease, the 2024 budget goes large on law enforcement, including a pay increase for patrol officers and investigators, as well as a pay increase and retention pay for detention officers.