Data, Data & More Data
By: Cheryl E. Johnson, PCC Galveston Co. Tax Assessor Collector Cheryl. E. Johnson @ co. galveston. tx. us
The Texas Comptroller releases a biennial report of property taxes every other year and the 2014 and 2015 report was released in December. It provides extensive information on tax rates, levies and values across the State and may be found online at www. comptroller. texas. gov. Also available is the data supporting it. This article summarizes the Comptroller’ s data and provides a local comparison of League City to other Texas cities and Harris and Galveston County to other Texas counties providing insight into where we fit in the overall Texas picture. It is presented for information from which you may draw your own conclusions. But first, the sources, amounts and percentage contribution of all Texas revenues:
Of the 3,500 governments in Texas in 2015, 3,339 assess a property tax ranging from a low of $ 0.0002( Gillespie County Water Control & Improvement District) to a high of $ 2.65( Dallas County Flood Control District # 1). There are 254 Texas counties and 1,205 cities with a property tax. Although local property taxes are the primary source of funding for schools, the other governments often have the ability to raise revenue from other sources such as sales tax and fees for services. The information presented herein is limited to property taxes only. Each government website has information pertaining to their other revenue sources.
In the charts shown at left and above, market value is the total appraised value as determined by county appraisal districts before exemptions are applied. The total tax rate is the combined rates, whether maintenance and operations( for daily provision of services) or interest and sinking( used to fund voter approved debt). Total levy is the revenue generated from the taxable value of all property including real( land and improvements thereon) and personal( business personal, minerals and inventory). The levy calculation is: [( MV- Exemptions) ÷ $ 100 ] x Rate = Levy. revenue sources. Ten years of levies at the local level are shown below:
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