Harris County homeowners hit with historically high tax bills
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - In Harris County, property tax bills are out, and as FOX 26 was the first to forecast, they are "punishing".
"To stick this kind of tax hike on people is unconscionable and somebody ought to pay the price for doing this," said Bill King, FOX 26 Contributor and fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute who was the first to sound the alarm.
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"This is going to hurt people in sort of the middle class the most. They are the ones that are on the tightest budgets," said King.
King's analysis of an average homeowner's 2025 tax bill is shocking - a 25% hike from Harris County, 19% increase from Houston ISD, 15% from Houston Community College, and a comparatively modest 10% from the City of Houston.
The total hickey for the test household - 18%, a perfect storm of higher home appraisal and jacked up rates from local governments.
"This is one year. This is not over a five-year period. This is one year. Now, I'm pretty sure that this person probably didn't get an 18% raise last year," said King.
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FOX 26 caught up with South Park Super Neighborhood President Travis McGee at "the Shack" on Reed Road. He says very few folks in Sunnyside can absorb this kind of hit.
"Our taxes are too damn high already. It's a big wake up call. We about to get priced out. Being a homeowner and business owner has always been the American dream, but these taxes make it the American nightmare," said McGee.
As for "return" on the additional taxpayer investment, like most, McGee is cynical.
"If you look around on some of the infrastructure, thoroughfares and stuff, we are not seeing our tax dollars at work. Each time they misuse, mismanage the money, and sometimes even steal the money," said McGee.
According to King, these local hikes have totally wiped out the "property tax relief delivered by the Texas legislature two years ago."
In terms of defense, King advises every homeowner hit by the double digit increases to file a protest with the Harris County Appraisal District and complain to each of their elected officials. Both McGee and King lamented the additional taxation on top of the escalating cost of home and auto insurance most Harris County homeowners are absorbing.