Tarrant County commissioners pass reduced tax rate after weeklong delay
Tarrant County commissioners passed property tax rates Monday morning, six days after the absence of Democrats forced a delay on the vote.
On Sept. 16, Roderick Miles, of Fort Worth, and Alisa Simmons, of Arlington, missed the meeting when the court was set to pass the budget and tax rates for the county and hospital district. Simmons was still absent on Monday due to a funeral.
According to local government code, three commissioners constitute a quorum in all cases except when changing the tax rate. Four are required to levy taxes. As a result, County Judge Tim O’Hare called a special meeting for Monday to vote on the tax rate.
Miles said he was unable to attend the Tuesday meeting due to illness that didn’t subside until Thursday.
Fort Worth Republican Manny Ramirez said he appreciates the clarification that Miles’ absence wasn’t intentional, saying “we don’t operate that way here. We work together.”
The $824 million budget was passed on Tuesday, but it exists under the pretense of the 18.62 cent proposed tax rate, which commissioners tentatively approved Sept. 3. The Democratic commissioners say the budget goes beyond cutting fat out of county spending. In order to keep from cutting bone, they want a tax rate of 18.66 cents.
The difference is about $1 for the owner of a home at the average value of $358,000. It would bring in about a million more tax dollars for the county budget.
The court passed on Monday the proposed tax rate of 18.62 cents per $100 valuation. The owner of a home at the average value of $358,000 will pay about $533 in county taxes, which is $4 less than last year’s bill for a home of the same value. The rate still raises more property tax revenue than last year, according to O’Hare.
The hospital district’s tax rate passed at 16.56 cents, which is lower than the rate the JPS Board of Directors had calculated their $1.87 billion budget. At the Aug. 28 meeting, the board said its tax rate was a placeholder for what the commissioners would approve. This rate raises less property tax revenue than the hospital district collected last year.
Miles was the sole vote against both tax rates. He wanted the tax rate to be higher.
In response to the commissioners’ absence last week, O’Hare cut money from the Democrats’ budgets. He said he would be glad to discuss amendments to that change if they return to pass the tax rate.
True to his word, O’Hare restored the budgets for Precincts 1 and 2 to what was initially proposed before the quorum break on Tuesday. The only exception was that Simmons would not get 20 new positions for her road and bridge crew; she will only receive 16 employees from Miles’ crew.
Many of the people who commented on the amendment said they were appalled by O’Hare’s cuts to the Democrats’ budgets.
“Let’s not strip away the livelihood of people who have committed their lives and their time and their service to this county because we’re upset because quorum was broken,” Miles said. “I heard it said that actions have consequences, and I don’t disagree with that, but when the consequences include people who had no part in the actions, that’s unfair and that’s unjust.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 12:49 PM.