RICHMOND, TX (Covering Katy News) - Property taxes are going up in Fort Bend County.
On a 4 to 1 vote, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court set the tax rate at 42.56 cents per hundred-dollar valuation, resulting in a 4.89% increase in county property taxes.
The Fort Bend County Appraisal District increased property values this year, and when that happens, County Commissioners have the option to lower the tax rate to keep property taxes from rising. At their September 12, 2023 meeting, Commissioners voted to reduced the tax rate, but not enough to keep property taxes from increasing.
County Judge KP George and Commissioners Vincent Morales, Grady Prestage, and Dexter McCoy voted for tax increase. Commissioner Andy Meyers voted against it.
Commissioner Dexter McCoy blamed the Texas Legislature for raising taxes.
"The state imposes unfunded mandates, meaning they mandate services that we have to provide, but they don't give us any money to fund those services," McCoy said. "In fact, according to our auditor's office, over one-third of our county's budget, about $200 million, is paying for these unfunded mandates."
Meyers had several reasons for voting against the tax increase, including the danger it creates for low-income people.
"During the State of the County address, we learned there are 17,000 Fort Bend families in danger of losing their home and becoming homeless," Meyers said. “Increasing taxes on their homes is not going to help their situation."
McCoy said the Legislature has made counties too dependent on the property tax. He believes the county should have other ways to generate tax revenue.
"If we want to lower takes, we need to make sure that we contact our state representatives, our state senators, and the governor's office to give us other options besides property taxes to raise the revenue or provide the funding for all the unfunded mandates that they have placed upon us."
Meyers said the best option is diversifying the tax base by enticing large employers to locate in Fort Bend County, which will pay taxes and share the burden of operating the county. He believes raising taxes makes it harder to do that.
"Fort Bend has higher tax rates than at least three other nearby counties, which puts us at a giant disadvantage when attempting to attract industrial development, diversify our tax base, and ease the burden on residential taxpayers who currently pay more than 80% of the total taxes," Meyers said.
Meyers was also the only commissioner to vote against the $767 million, 2024 county budget. He did so because it is 18 percent higher than last year's budget.
Disclaimer: The owner of Covering Katy News, Dennis Spellman, is also an employee of the Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner's Office.