Comptroller Releases 2020-21 Summary Report
The Tax Code directs the Comptroller’s office to publish a biennial report of the appraised and taxable values of properties by category and the tax rates of counties, cities, special districts, and school districts for a two-year period. This report provides a single point of reference for appraised values, taxable values, and tax levies and rates of Texas taxing units.
In tax year 2021, Texas cities, counties, school districts, and special purpose districts levied more than $73 billion in property taxes – 4.31 percent more in 2021 than in 2020, according to the Biennial Property Tax Report.
Unlike other taxing units, which can also collect sales taxes and fees, school districts’ only source of tax revenue is the property tax. In 2021, the state’s 1,015 school districts levied almost $39 billion in property taxes, or approximately 52.96 percent of all property taxes levied by local taxing units in the state, according to the report.
Cities collected the second-largest share of property tax in 2021 – more than $12.5 billion, an increase of more than 4.45 percent from the 2020 levy. Counties followed with a property tax levy of almost $11.7 billion, which is 3.57 percent more than in 2020.
Exhibit 1 shows that local property tax remains the largest tax assessed in Texas. Property taxes levied by taxing units statewide exceeded $70 billion in 2020 and $73 billion in 2021.
The next largest tax revenue source in Texas is the sales tax, which is imposed by both the state government and local taxing units. As demonstrated in Exhibit 2, local taxing units consistently collect about 58 percent of all taxes in the state, while state government collects about 42 percent.
The complete market and taxable values and tax rates for all counties, cities, special districts, and school districts is available on the Office of the Comptroller’s Property Tax Survey Data and Reports webpage, https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/rates/index.php.
To view the biennial report in full, go to https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-1728.pdf.