Qualifying providers across Dallas County could receive property tax relief as early as this fall under a new state provision aimed at addressing child care deserts.
About 200 properties in Dallas may be eligible for the exemption, with a total market value of over $92 million, according to city estimates.
The area recently became among the first in Texas to provide the tax break at both the city and county levels after the City Council and Dallas County commissioners passed the reduction in property taxes for child care providers starting next year in their own jurisdictions.
“It’s a game changer,” said Dee Chhabra, the owner of Spring Creek Private School, which serves about 140 children, from infants through 13-years-olds.
High-quality early child care and education advocates have endorsed such proposals, pointing out that federal pandemic relief funds, which allowed some providers to keep their doors open, were expiring.
Chhabra said the relief could give him some wiggle room to increase teachers’ pay and keep costs low for parents at his centers, one of which is in North Dallas.
“It’s tough to keep some of these good teachers because of such high [wages] that they’re able to get in some other areas outside of child care,” he said.
The tax-break proposal gained momentum when Texas voters approved Proposition 2 in November. The state constitutional amendment allows counties and municipalities to waive property taxes by 50% to 100% for qualifying child care centers. To be eligible, at least 20% of a center’s enrollment must be made up of families that receive state-subsidized child care.
Across Texas, the cities of Denton, Austin and Houston, along with Aransas, Bexar, El Paso, Harris, Hays and Travis counties, have approved such proposals. Other cities and counties are considering the move.
To receive the tax relief as early as this year, providers must apply by the end of April to the Dallas Central Appraisal District. The form can be downloaded from the website of the Texas comptroller.
Texas has many child care deserts. Just under half of the state’s residents live in such areas, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress, a nonprofit public policy research and advocacy group.
Eleven of the 93 ZIP codes in Dallas County are child care deserts, according to data from Children at Risk, a Houston-based research and advocacy nonprofit.
Child care providers face challenges such as staffing shortages, under-enrollment and rising operating costs, including rent or property insurance, a National Association for the Education of Young Children survey found earlier this year.
Offering competitive pay is also a major challenge. Advocates hope tax breaks will provide relief, helping them funnel money into other costs, remain open and support those in the workforce.
More than 60% of children in Dallas County under 6 years old have both parents working, according to estimates from The Commit Partnership.
“Lack of child care is a major barrier to workforce participation for parents in our region,” Jarrad Toussant, senior vice president for workforce and education at the Dallas Regional Chamber, said in a statement. (The chamber is a supporter of the Education Lab.)
The exemption will help ensure “that high-quality early care and education remains in reach for our North Texas working parents,” he said.
The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas created a video to help child care providers navigate the application process.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
