Property tax — and higher insurance premiums — are mostly to blame for fast-increasing housing costs.
But that's not just for homeowners. Apartment and home renters are paying for those higher rates as well.
Rental property owners are interested in making money. So their costs get passed down to apartment and home renters, said Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins.
"Everyone should care about property taxes, including renters," he said. "If someone owns a rental property, they own it to make a return. If the taxes or the insurance go up on that property, they're in it to make a profit, so they're going to raise your rent or rent it to someone who will pay more so they can keep making a profit."
He hopes the Texas Legislature will prioritize property tax relief during the upcoming session, which begins in January.
The option to offer property flat-dollar homestead exemptions is among Dallas County commissioners top 10 priorities to support during the law-making session.
Factors that consumers and lawmakers relatively can't control, like freezes, floods and hurricanes, have caused insurance rates to more than double in five years.
Dallas County Tax Assessor Collector John Ames said that's true locally.
"We found that some people's homeowners insurance went up more throughout the year than their property taxes did, depending on where they live and what their exemptions are," he said.
Insurance bills are one reason Dallas homeowners are paying about 41% more in property taxes than they did five years ago, according to a recent national report by virtual real estate company Redfin.
"Property taxes are an especially important way for governments to pay for those projects in states like Florida and Texas that don’t have state income taxes," Redfin reported. "Additionally, some homes that are especially vulnerable to climate disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, are essentially uninsurable."
Property owner bills include the base mortgage, interest rate, escrow and homeowner insurance.
Online finance marketplace LendingTree reported this year that Texas had the fifth-highest rate increase nationally.
The average Dallas area rent in 2019 was about $1,200, according to the Census.
The average rate as a percentage of a home’s value is highest in Texas, Redfin says. It's lowest in California.
Tax bills were highest in New York and New Jersey and lowest in Phoenix.
In Austin, 20 percent of a total housing bill is property tax. San Antonio's is 19 and Dallas and Fort Worth are each about 18, according to the report.
Dallas, Redfin says, pays about $570 per month in property taxes.
If the bill is financially unmanageable, verify the property's appraised taxable value and challenge it or apply for tax exemptions, Ames said.
"If you do not believe your home is worth that much, you have every right to contact the appraisal district and file a protest and talk to them about your evaluation," he said. "And you should always, every year, double check to make sure that you have all the exemptions that you're entitled to — your homestead exemption, Your over 65, your disabled, your veterans."
Some Dallas County cities do not offer a city homestead exemption, like DeSoto, Lancaster, Cedar Hill and Mesquite.
Tax bill payments become delinquent Jan. 31.
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