HOUSTON – The Houston City Council on Wednesday voted to lower the city’s property tax rate, despite Mayor Sylvester Turner’s call to hold the rate steady.
The council voted to decrease the 2018 tax rate from 58.642 cents to 58.421 cents per $100 of assessed property value. That means that on a home valued at $200,000, the owner would pay about $4 less in taxes on that property.
Turner had asked that the rate be kept flat for the upcoming year. Alan Bernstein, Turner’s spokesman, said keeping the rate the same would have resulted in an increase of $7.8 million in revenue for the city, as property values were projected to increase.
However, some expressed concerns about staying below the voter-mandated revenue cap. Other council members said they were worried that property owners affected by Hurricane Harvey will have their property devalued, but would still be paying the same tax rate on the previous value.
The decision comes after Turner backed off his call for an emergency tax hike to help cover the costs of Harvey recovery efforts.
