garcia's tax cut
Harris County politician champions crucial new tax cut for homeowners
A key Harris County figure has proposed a pivotal piece of legislation for homeowners. Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia is championing a “responsible” reduction of the overall Harris County property tax rate at Commissioners Court, his office announced.
Garcia’s proposed 2.2-percent reduction would result in a rate of 0.58585 per $100 of taxable value — that’s down from 0.59920. This would be the third straight year of reduced property tax rates in Harris County, if adopted, Garcia’s office notes. Rates previously remaining flat going back to at least 2010.
His tax rate reduction would need to be officially adopted at a future court meeting, provided a quorum is reached, according to his office. Without that quorum, the county would adopt a “no new revenue” rate, which would keep the county’s budget flat in the next fiscal year.
Notably, a loss of this potential tax revenue would most drastically impact the Harris County Flood Control District, Garcia claims in a press release. That could mean a shortfall of approximately $10.5 million (just under 10 percent of HCFCD’s budget), according to Budget Management.
Projects and staff, and many planned infrastructure improvements would be postponed or canceled due to lack of funding.
“A pandemic is no time to place an increased property tax burden on homeowners,” Garcia said in a press release. “For three straight years, Harris County has been able to improve vital services for our residents and invest in law enforcement and infrastructure, while coming in under budget. Thanks to our hard work and fiscal responsibility, I am proud to propose a responsible property tax rate cut for the third straight year to help our residents.”
In February, as CultureMap reported, Garcia made a push to get Houston and Harris County off the ERCOT grid.
