WFAA: Dallas County Judge Calling for Property Tax Rate Reduction

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is calling on local governments to lower their tax rates to offset higher property valuations. That way, they would still get the money they were planning on without "overtaxing" home and business owners.

DALLAS -- Last spring, the Dallas County Central Appraisal District conducted one of its most comprehensive review of property values in years.

Crews went out and snapped digital photos of every single parcel on the tax rolls.

Each picture may have said a thousand words. But Jeanne Loman needed just one when she saw the new value assigned to her property.

“Shock," Loman said. "Because it went up significantly. We had been in the $400,000 range and now we're in the $500,000 range."

Wednesday, she had a hearing to appeal the increase and made some headway. Then, she learned that more relief may be coming for her and the other 525,000 property owners in Dallas County whose values went up -- many by double-digit percentage points.

"What I'm proposing is that we capture the money that was budgeted for, but not this windfall," County Judge Clay Jenkins said on Wednesday.

Jenkins is calling on local governments to lower their tax rates to offset the higher valuations. That way, they would still get the money they were planning on without "overtaxing" home and business owners.

Jeanne Loman likes the sound of that.

"I think it's a great idea, because the average person significantly struggles with such a leap in tax values," she said.

But some cities and school districts might not like it. If they don't lower their tax rates, the higher property values will give them extra money they didn't count on.

"I think it will be hard, but anything that is worth doing is hard, and we'll get it done," Jenkins said.

The county judge says he has already informally discussed the idea with some local mayors and council members and they have all indicated they are open to discussing the idea.

Jenkins would like to see a 40-percent reduction in property tax increases. In other words, he’d like to give back to homeowners $40 for every $100 extra they owe in taxes this year.

To help push the plan, Jenkins is asking property owners to sign a petition, which you can find at this link.