Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson wants to lower city portion of property tax bill
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Sammy Hargrave moved to his house in South Oak Cliff in 1987.
During those 36 years, Hargrave says he's watched his home value and property taxes grow.
"With prices that increased on everything, groceries, my automobile and homeowner insurance went through the roof," he said. "So, for someone who's nearly 80 years old on social security and a fixed income, things get squeezed from every direction."
In an interview with CBS News Texas, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said he wants the city to provide homeowners like Hargrave real relief. "Lowering the tax rate is not enough. I want to actually deliver actual property relief on the city portion of your tax bill by having your city tax bill lower—have you pay less money in taxes than you paid last year."
This year, the city's property tax rate is 74.58 cents per $100 valuation—a nearly three-cent drop from the year before when it was 77.33 cents per $100 valuation.
It was the city council's largest single-year reduction in four decades.
"We have one of the higher tax rates in the region and in some ways, we're lagging in the region," Mayor Johnson said. "So, I'd like to see Dallas have the lowest rate in the region and so that's our goal."
Of the major cities in Texas, only the City of El Paso has a higher property tax rate at 86.24 cents per $100 valuation.
The question is what the rate would have to be for residents to see lower property tax bills than last year.
The city manager and administrators are in the process of developing a proposed budget for next year and will release it Aug. 8.
By the end of the month, the Dallas County Appraisal District will certify the amount of property tax revenues the city will receive next year.
Council member Cara Mendelsohn agreed with the mayor and said she believes the city can give property owners a break. "We have a lot of opportunities to do that. This is the perfect year to make another historic reduction."
She said the city's property tax revenues and sales tax revenues have kept rising. "We don't have a revenue problem. There's not a shortage of dollars coming into the city. What's happening is, how are we spending our dollars? I think that's where we're going to have to make some choices and show some fiscal restraint."
Council member Jaime Resendez said the mayor's goal is good.
"It's extremely important for every level of government to look into ways to provide a property tax relief," he said.
At the same time, Resendez said there are a lot of needs in the city and that the city must also continue to provide a high level of services as efficiently and effectively as possible. "I represent a district in southeast Dallas that feels like it's been long, long ignored. So, we need to make sure that we are providing services for providing resources to communities and that feel that way."
Hargrave said he's pleased with the services the city has provided, including trash pick-up, water and utilities, as well as fixing the streets.
His message to city council members and the mayor is simple: "Give us some help."