Dallas homeowners who are at least 65 or have disabilities are getting a 10% increase in the amount of money they can exempt from property taxes this fall.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved increasing the homestead exemption for those homeowners from $139,400 to $153,400 beginning Oct. 1.
Senior and disabled homeowners with a home valued at $435,922 — the city’s average market value for a single family home — would pay $1,437 in city taxes, saving about $100, city officials said. That tally includes the standard 20% homestead exemption, which can be applied for every Dallas homeowners’ primary residence.
Dallas estimates forgoing $7.4 million in revenue to give the property tax break.
Council member Chad West said that next year, officials may revisit the calculation for the increased exemption to consider the year-over-year change in the median residential market value, instead of the current criteria of the average residential market value.
He said that would be a more appropriate measure of tracking the middle home price in Dallas.
If that method was applied Wednesday, senior and disabled homeowners with a home valued at $435,922 were estimated by the city to pay $1,495 in city taxes, saving $44.
The increased exemption could apply to more than 72,500 homes in the city. It’s meant to give more tax relief to residents who are typically on a fixed income to provide some aid in the face of rising property values and gentrification, officials said.
The approval marks the sixth time the council approved an increase in that extra homestead exemption since 2017, when it was $64,000.
At 73.57 cents per $100 of assessed property value, Dallas has one of the highest property tax rates of Texas’ major cities. It is higher than Houston (51.91), San Antonio (54.15), Austin (44.58), Fort Worth (67.25), Arlington (58.98) and Corpus Christi (59.97).
Of the 10 largest cities in the state, only El Paso has a higher property tax rate at 81.88 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
