Tarrant County cities should lower tax rates

Tarrant County is having an interesting year.

Property values in North Texas cities are on the rise, which shouldn’t be surprising with the recent events dealing with the Tarrant Appraisal District.

Homeowners dealt with the sticker shock over their property values this year, after a year in which the average incease was held back by software problems.

The total appraised value for commercial, residential and mineral lease properties has increased almost 12 percent since last year.

But rising property values can mean positive things for the the county’s future.

Tarrant County had the sixth-largest population increase nationwide last year. This growth can lead to more public projects and possibly a lower tax rate for certain cities.

Tarrant County Administrator G.K. Maenius told Star-Telegram reporter Sandra Baker that the county would buy new voting equipment when the new budget gets drafted.

That’s nice. Lower tax rates would be nice, too.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Tarrant County cities should lower tax rates."