Child care providers in Texas could see relief through a proposal that’ll be on the upcoming November election.
If approved by voters, Proposition 2 would allow cities and counties to reduce or eliminate local property taxes to qualified child care centers.
The proposal is needed because federal pandemic relief funds — which helped many child care providers stay afloat and function — are set to end this year, advocates say.
“Providers will be able to, hopefully, raise the pay for our great child care educators, expand access and increase the quality of programming,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins at a Wednesday press conference.
Rough estimates show that about 255 of Dallas County’s current providers would be eligible for such a tax break because more than 20% of their enrollment is made up of children receiving child care subsidies, Lewis Jenkins said.
State lawmakers, early education advocates and child care providers gathered on Wednesday to call on Texan voters to advance the proposal. The group stopped in Dallas as it toured the state to spread awareness.
Many areas across the state are considered child care deserts because they lack enough providers.
Now less than a third of child care programs in Texas, 31%, are likely to remain open without additional funding, according to a recent survey of more than 1,800 child care administrators conducted by the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.
More than a quarter of programs reported that they are likely to close without more funding.
Within the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, there are 18 ZIP codes which qualify as child care deserts, said Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of research and advocacy nonprofit Children at Risk.
For every 100 kids, those areas have only about 27 subsidized child care seats available for low-income working parents, he added.
Texas loses more than $9 billion annually because of child care challenges, according to a 2021 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
But “it’s not just about making sure that our families go to work when they need to go to work,” Sanborn said. “It’s making sure that these kids are getting a high quality early education.”
Tobitha Holmes, the executive director of W.I.S.E. Academy in Cedar Hill, said early education is essential to building a “good foundation” for children before they enter schools. About 75% of her center’s students come from low-income families.
The center is licensed for 170 children, but only about 90 students are currently enrolled. Holmes said she hasn’t opened up more seats because she doesn’t want to overwhelm her team of 13 teachers.
She also wants to make sure that the center is providing quality care and development, noting that she believes lower student-to-teacher ratios produce better outcomes.
If the tax break proposal makes it through the finish line, Holmes could better afford more training for her staff, bonuses, scholarships for families, new furniture and materials for the classrooms and redoing the center’s more than 25-year-old flooring.
Child care centers like hers operate on a tightrope, balancing quality care and education for kids against the financial realities of running a business, advocates noted.
“This is a significant step forward in ensuring that child care centers can thrive and continue to provide essential services to our community,” said state Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas.
Even if voters pass the statewide proposition, local elected officials would need to decide on whether or not to offer the tax break.
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