Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare touted property tax cuts and expressed support for a controversial tax policy at his State of the County Address in Arlington on Friday.
O’Hare took office in 2023, entering on a wave of conservative support that helped him defeat fellow Republican and former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price in the primary. In recent years, commissioners have cut county property taxes, an achievement he focused on during his remarks at the Sheraton Arlington Hotel.
“We’ve reduced spending. We’ve changed the culture,” he said. “And we’ve provided real, significant property tax relief to our residents and our businesses.”
Friday's event was hosted by the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce. Chamber board chair Kelly Curnutt asked the questions -- diving into controversial territory when he asked O’Hare about recent changes at the Tarrant Appraisal District.
The appraisal district is in charge of determining the value of properties, to figure out how much they should be taxed. Last summer, the district’s board decided to reappraise property values every two years, instead of annually.
This is important because property taxes are an important source of funding for schools, according to the Texas Comptroller. Already-struggling school districts have warned that letting property values stagnate could have terrible consequences for their budgets.
O’Hare does not serve on the appraisal district’s board, but he did script the agenda items for those changes, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported last year.
O’Hare said Friday he’s not the architect of the plan, but he does support the every-two-years appraisal schedule.
“I think it’ll be better that way, because you don’t get that sticker shock every single year,” he said. “Are there budget adjustments? Yes. But, y’know, change happens. It’s constant.”
O'Hare's children go to public schools, and his goal isn’t to weaken school districts, he said. He emphasized that lowering property taxes helps keep housing affordable.
“It’s funny, some of the same people that are talking about affordable housing are the same ones that are raising property taxes every year and putting more regulations in every year," he said.
O’Hare acknowledged the appraisal district’s move faces a challenge in the state Legislature. State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, filed a bill this session to require yearly appraisals.
“The Texas Constitution requires equal uniform appraisals with respect to taxation,” Turner told the Fort Worth Report. “And if you have one appraisal district start to do things fundamentally differently than what is going on in other counties … it really threatens to destabilize the whole system.”
County property taxes are a small slice of a homeowner’s total tax bill. Cities and school districts take a bigger chunk.
The Commissioners Court unanimously passed a new, lower tax rate last year. But Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons warned at that meeting in September she wouldn’t approve another tax rate that provides no new revenue.
“We are approaching very dangerous levels of revenue, given the vital functions this county government must support in our community,” she said.
Echoing last year’s State of the County Address in Arlington, O’Hare once again underlined the importance of drawing more businesses to Tarrant County. He expressed hope that one of Dallas' major sports franchises could move west.
“I think everybody in this room knows that the Mavericks and the Stars are looking for another arena, and I'm 100% for getting whichever one of those didn't trade Luka Doncic into Tarrant County,” he said. “I can't think of a better home for the Dallas Stars than Arlington.”
During his time as county judge, O’Hare has also used his position to advocate for conservative social causes. This month, University of Texas trustees declared drag shows were not allowed on their campuses after O’Hare sent them a letter asking for a ban. He also worked to end the county’s affiliation with a youth justice program whose website used the term “systemic racism.”
The past year has been a contentious one on the Commissioners Court. At recent meetings, some members of the audience have been arrested. And there are frequent tense exchanges between O’Hare and County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who represents Arlington. Some accused O’Hare of racism and sexism when he told Simmons, a Black woman, to “sit there and be quiet” during one debate.
O’Hare did not address those issues at the State of the County event. The questioned focused mostly on economic development and possibilities for Tarrant County, which he called “the most dynamic region, certainly in America, if not the world.”
“We’re almost immune to when the economy is shutting down around the rest of the country. It's still going here,” he said. “There's still cranes, there's still expansion, there's people moving here.”
As long as he holds his office, O’Hare promised to look after people’s tax dollars, he said.
"The more people we have employed here, the more people that we have employed making good money, the better it is for everybody, the safer we all are, the less governments spend," he said.
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