Data , Data & More Data
By : Cheryl E . Johnson , PCC Galveston Co . Tax Assessor Collector Cheryl . E . Johnson @ co . galveston . tx . us
The Texas Comptroller releases a biennial report of property taxes every other year and the 2014 and 2015 report was released in December . It provides extensive information on tax rates , levies and values across the State and may be found online at www . comptroller . texas . gov . Also available is the data supporting it . This article summarizes the Comptroller ’ s data and provides a local comparison of League City to other Texas cities and Harris and Galveston County to other Texas counties providing insight into where we fit in the overall Texas picture . It is presented for information from which you may draw your own conclusions . But first , the sources , amounts and percentage contribution of all Texas revenues :
Of the 3,500 governments in Texas in 2015 , 3,339 assess a property tax ranging from a low of $ 0.0002 ( Gillespie County Water Control & Improvement District ) to a high of $ 2.65 ( Dallas County Flood Control District # 1 ). There are 254 Texas counties and 1,205 cities with a property tax . Although local property taxes are the primary source of funding for schools , the other governments often have the ability to raise revenue from other sources such as sales tax and fees for services . The information presented herein is limited to property taxes only . Each government website has information pertaining to their other revenue sources .
In the charts shown at left and above , market value is the total appraised value as determined by county appraisal districts before exemptions are applied . The total tax rate is the combined rates , whether maintenance and operations ( for daily provision of services ) or interest and sinking ( used to fund voter approved debt ). Total levy is the revenue generated from the taxable value of all property including real ( land and improvements thereon ) and personal ( business personal , minerals and inventory ). The levy calculation is : [( MV - Exemptions ) ÷ $ 100 ] x Rate = Levy . revenue sources . Ten years of levies at the local level are shown below :
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