by: Bill King It has been widely reported by the local media that Harris County Commissioners’ Court increased taxes by 8% at their meeting on September 19. However, the County’s public tax notices clearly show that the increase for the average homeowner will be at least 15% and may be as high as 19%. While this increase is jaw-dropping, it is made even more egregious because it comes on the heels of a nearly 12% increase last year, making the increase over the last two years 29.5%. These increases will result in the County and its related entities receiving nearly $900 million more in tax revenue than just two years ago. To say this increase is unprecedented is a gross understatement. I suspect this is the largest two-year tax increase in the history of the State of Texas. First, it is important to remember that your tax bill is a function of two factors: the tax rate and the taxable appraised value of your property. If either of those goes up or down, so will your tax bill. When elected officials set their tax rates in the fall of each year, the appraisal district has provided them with an estimate for the likely increase in the appraised values for that year. Th at estimated increase in the appraised value for the average taxpayer’s home is included in the required tax notices. So, when elected officials set tax rates for the year, they know what the likely effect will be on their residents’ tax bills. Officials like to talk about tax rates but ignore appraised values, which for many years have been steadily moving higher. This allows elected officials to claim that they are holding

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