TAXING MATTERS
CHERYL E . JOHNSON , PCC , CTOP Galveston County Tax Assessor Collector
PROPERTY TAX HIGHS AND LOWS
By now everyone should know that property taxes are the primary source of funding for local governments in Texas . While the Comptroller is primarily responsible for most of the 60 taxes and fees funding State services , in your County Tax Office we collect current property taxes for 35 local governments , PID assessments for two cities and delinquent taxes for nine governments . The remaining 50 + governments collect their own property taxes or hire private firms to do so ( but that is another story ).
Property taxes in Texas are some of the highest in the nation , primarily because we have no State income tax . Because Texans first receive a valuation by the appraisal district then a tax bill from us five months later – most people are convinced that they are the most egregious taxes we pay . In all honesty – income taxes are much higher for most of us than our property taxes – just far less obvious .
Want really low property taxes ? Move to Alaska or Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana ! Because I love Texas and will never leave , I was curious where to live to pay the lowest taxes and , more importantly , where to never move ! The Comptroller maintains tax data for all Texas governments and the 2020 tax year was most current .
With 254 counties , 1,089 cities , 1,015 school districts and 2,063 special districts ( MUDs , drainage and water districts and community colleges , etc .), the first thing is to find a place without special districts and cities thereby reducing the number of governments taxing you to just counties and school districts ( 13 cities do , however , have a zero tax rate ).
What county has the lowest rate ? Midland in west Texas ( but that could change if they stop pumping oil ). What school district has the lowest rate ? Divide ISD ( northwest of San Antonio ). One way to avoid city taxes is to visit the county appraisal district website , search for online maps then select “ city boundaries ” to see a color coded map of all cities within that county . For example , in GCAD , click here ( see map below for results ). For special districts click on this link . These are great tools to
use if you are trying to make a decision about real estate purchases and property taxes factor into your decision .
In Galveston County in 2020 , the lowest city rate was Kemah ($ 0.1793 ) and highest was Galveston ($ 0.56 ) with the County at $ 0.465128 . Galveston ISD had the lowest at $ 1.0264 and Texas City ISD the highest at $ 1.3607 .
Not that I plan to move , but I did discover that one of the lowest combined tax rates in Texas is in the City of Carmine in Fayette County and Round Top / Carmine ISD ( combined rate of $ 1.35 ). That would have resulted in $ 500 less in taxes for me last year ! See above for lowest and highest rates in Texas .
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