SE Dallas News

A dozen Texas cities have put a combined $2.3 billion in new spending and debt up for vote May 7.

The cities have placed multimillion dollar bond propositions on the ballot, which would add to the debt currently being paid by residents, and while property tax rates might remain nominally unchanged, more debt would likely lead to an increase on the burden for every individual to repay it, according to a report by the Texas Scorecard.  

The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) published a report in April detailing increasing property tax rates across the state of Texas. The association noted that Texans could experience some "sticker shock" when receiving their appraisals this year, but that ultimately, Texans have some control over their property tax rates.

"The simple truth is no matter what your appraisal, property tax bills would not be going up unless local jurisdictions wanted to spend more money,” the report stated. “Regardless of your 2022 appraisal, right now your 2022 tax bill is zero. Your tax bill won’t be set until the jurisdictions in which you reside decide how much money they want to raise and set their tax rates."

Haltom City has one bond proposition totaling $25 million on the ballot May 7, according to Texas Scorecard. The city of Longview has one bond proposition totaling $45.6 million, according to the city’s website.

Any new bond that is approved will be added to the already existing debt of the city that will be paid by its residents, according to Texas Scorecard. While property tax rates in these cities may remain the same, increasing the debt payments of the city increases the amount of property taxes that need to be paid.

This comes as the Texas Public Policy Foundation reports the state’s total local debt burden including principal and interest was more than $365.3 billion in 2019, which is equivalent to $12,500 of debt for every Texan.