Yes, Houston, It Is A Tax Increase!
Despite Denials, Houston City Council Hikes Taxes More Than $22 Million

HOUSTON – October 28, 2005 – Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt rejected claims by Houston City Council members Wednesday that they had not raised property taxes, noting that the owner of an average-value Houston residence will pay 5.6 percent more property taxes as a result of the city’s new tax rate.

“I was at City Council’s meeting Wednesday. This is not the complicated math that some council members would have the public believe,” Bettencourt said. “The owner of an average Houston home will pay $36 a year more in city taxes next year, and the city will collect $22 million more in tax revenue. Any way you measure it, that’s a tax increase.”

Bettencourt’s office, which collects property taxes for the City of Houston, has conducted several analyses of tax levies imposed by the city. The most recent analysis, which reflects the quarter-cent decrease in the city’s property tax rate passed Wednesday, shows the city will increase its tax revenues next year to more than $711 million – up 3.3 percent from the $689 million collected this year.

“Taxpayers across the city can look in their checkbooks to judge whether City Council has raised their taxes,” said Bettencourt. “Most taxpayers will see that the check they write this year is larger than the check they wrote last year, despite the laudable frequency of city tax rate cuts – three in the last six years alone.”

The Tax Office analysis shows that booming property values continue to fatten government coffers. For every Houston-area residence that lost value last year, Bettencourt’s analysis shows that 6.5 others increased. The value of an average city residence during the 2004 tax year was $129,518, resulting in a city tax bill of $645.40. The value of that same residence will rise to $137,734 this year, leaving the owner with a city property tax bill of $681.28 – an increase of $35.88, or 5.6 percent.

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