Local taxes in Texas have been rising to help pay for education. Who is to blame?

[TexasTowelie]

by Alex Samuels, Texas Tribune


Hey, Texplainer: How much has the state contributed to education funding over the past several years, and how has that affected property taxes?

This question is familiar to anyone involved in state politics these days. Texas leaders say property taxes are too high. School leaders say those taxes have gone up because the state isn't funding public education like it used to. Here are the facts:

During the 2008 fiscal year, the state covered roughly 48.5 percent of the cost of public education, according to the Legislative Budget Board. By the 2019 fiscal year, it will support closer to 38 percent.

Are local school districts raising taxes because the state isn’t picking up its share? The districts would say yes — but the state is not the only reason school property taxes are rising.

“The state budget does not dictate the actual amounts that local taxable property values increase or decrease — or the tax rates,” said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency. “Those property values are determined by the local appraisal districts and the local ISDs set their tax rates based on those locally developed property values.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/02/16/whos-paying-more-texas-education-state-or-local-taxpayers/