Tax rates 2008-09 for NE Tarrant towns (North Richland Hills, Bedford: sales, new home)

[loves2read]

This article in FTW paper had info that some people ask for so thought I would put the current tax rates for some towns in NE Tarrant county on line...
these are city tax rates--not for the ISDs in the area--and there is some mention of how increased evaluations will affect taxes on homes...

Bedford -- holding to tax rate of 44.6 per $100--4th year in a row but the city has increased its budget--may be increase in water/sewer but not set yet

Euless--47 per $100 of assessed value. Budget decreased because last year's had several one-time projects--says there is proposal to increase water/sewer rates by 22 cents per 1K gal of water...

Hurst--53.5 per $100 -- stayed the same--budget is about 800K more than last year's--water/sewer rates will go up by 4%

North Richland Hills--57 per $100 --- same as for last 16 years (that has GOT to be a record) but it was high when it was established...

from what I have seen there has been a lot of retail and residential growth in NRH over the past 5-6 years--John Barfield the developer has created another subdivision now that Forest Glen West is about built out--and the NRH2O facility is profitable for the town as well...there is the new construction on Hwy 26 by the Kroger strip center and Walker Elem but that is a high tax rate and some of the new homes are 450-550K--pretty steep bill for them...the older developments do not have such a high assessment value on homes...

RICHLAND HILLS--older community--closer to FTW and 121--not many people on line ask about living there--increase to 45.9 per 100--almost a cent increase--the city is spending money on water system improvements, money to upgrade/attract business to Boulevard 26 and a new bldg to a city park...

Watauga--proposed to stay the same at 58 per 100 (another steep rate) but that is mainly because the property values here are not that high--and while there has been some retail construction it is still not as upscale as other neighborhing towns...

Grapevine--the town council is considering cutting the tax rate from 36.25 to 35 per 100---but the assessed value as increased from 203,854 last year to 213, 213 this year (don't you love the symetry there)...Budget could go up 4 Million--looking for pay raises and merit raises--to increase the number of emergency sirens in the system (Grapevine has large acreage and has some areas that are still fairly rural/open.)

Halton City--holding at 59.83 per 100--home values increasing from 68,869 to 72,400--so you can see why the higher rate is needed--most tax bills don't come close to Colleyville's or even NRHills...
Also spending 200K to upgrade along Baker street

Keller--rate of 43.2 per 100 stays the same--but home assessment has increased from avg 251,861 to 266, 858 so avg bill will go up $58...
increase in budget of 2 million--health ins costs/retirement costs/cost-of-living raise, gasoline costs, opening a new fire station are all reasons for increase.

Colleyville--35.59 per 100 stays the same but increase valuation will raise taxes--375, 211 to 391, 133 avg home's assessment means increase in 56.67 so the avg tax bill is now 1392.04---but that is just for the CITY taxes--add on ISD, county, hospital district, college dist--and with increased valuation all of those tax bills will be higher as well...little increase in budget but employees' raises could go as high as 8% depending on performance reviews...

Southlake--remains at 46.2 per 100--avg valuation increased from 448,462 to 479, 158 so that the CITY tax increase is about 142...the homestead exemption of 15K would cut that to about $72...

remember that homestead exemption is not just for Southlake homes--it apparently was the only city's finance director to mention it to the reporter...

Budget is about 3 million more--has new fire lieutenants and fire fighters, salary adjustments for police and other city employees

Westlake--There is not city property tax here--the city's operating income derives from sales taxes, fines and fees.
The higher fuel costs, healthcare and funding the arts and science bldg at Westlake academy--which is mainly covered by capital campaign (don't know what that means--bond election? contributions?)...
(IMO--think it will be hard to sustain growth here without some type of formalized property tax--maybe very low since homes are so expensive...)

anyway know some new people don't read the FTW paper on line and no idea how long this article might stay active but thought it was easy way to find general tax info and had the avg assessments as well...

[ChristieP]

I don't know where you get the impression that Grapevine has rural areas and large open acreage because it's not true!! There are some open areas, but they are zoned industrial, or are DFW airport land that is not available for development. Grapevine has been almost totally built-out in residential zones for several years, and the city council addresses it regularly in their planning.

[loves2read]

ChristieP--I guess I am thinking about the areas north of 114 around Dove rd
part of that is park land I guess

[ChristieP]

That's not Grapevine. Grapevine ends at Kimbell Road on 114. You're looking at areas that are part of Keller, Southlake, Westlake and Roanoke. A large part of that (beind the Plant Shed) is Milners' cutting horse ranch.