Low-income Dallasites struggle with taxes as property values soar
It kept Juanita Velasquez up at night.
Her home, not far from the western fork of the Trinity River, had been in her family since the early 1940s. It was her grandfather’s and then her mother’s and then hers.
The 67-year-old spent all but two years of her life in that home in Dallas’ Ledbetter neighborhood. Velasquez wondered how much longer it would last.
She was approaching retirement, and like others in Dallas County, her property taxes skyrocketed following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total market value of her west Dallas home jumped 135% in four years
Her property taxes ballooned from just under $1,850 in 2019 to over $3,400 in 2023, an 85% increase. And she didn’t want to see what this year would bring.
She knew she needed to get things fixed and fast.
“There’s no way I’m going to be able to pay $4,000 in property taxes when my income is $1,400 a month,” she said.
She isn’t the only one struggling.
As property values surge, low-income Dallas residents in developing parts of town are left with property tax bills they struggle to afford.
What’s going on with property taxes in Dallas County?
Total market value of residential properties in Dallas has increased over the last three years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you paid more in taxes.
From 2020 to 2023, the total market value of residential properties in Dallas County jumped
47%.
If you owned a $400,000 home within the City of Dallas in 2020 and claimed a homestead exemption, you paid nearly $8,900 in taxes.
Texas has a 10% cap on appraisal increases for residential properties with a homestead exemption, which affects the property bill on that house over the next several years.
By 2022, you’d pay more than $9,800 in taxes on that home as the value increased. But in 2023, the amount fell to just under $9,300.
Preliminary estimates from the Dallas Central Appraisal District show that market values for residential properties increased by 15.6% in 2024.
Early analysis from O’conner Tax Reduction Experts shows single-family homes in Dallas County worth $250,000 or less saw their values increase by almost 16% while houses worth $1.5 million or more saw a 19.7% jump.
We won’t know official 2024 tax amounts until the appraisal district certifies values and governing bodies set a tax rate. Those rates won’t be set until September, said John R. Ames, Dallas County’s Tax Assessor/collector.
The 2024 jump is higher than in others in the metroplex. Each county may track that number a little differently.
Collin County reported a nearly 7% increase in residential market values this year. The market value for Denton County’s single-family residential properties was up 4.8%. Median home value is down 1.6% in Kaufman County, according to data provided to The Dallas Morning News.
Toby Toler, a commercial tax consultant who offers low-income Dallas homeowners property tax assistance, told The News he’s seen hundreds of cases like Velasquez’s this year.
“Those are the people whose houses have gone up over 1,000% since 2019,” he said. “We got 500 of them on our list that have all got triple digit if not quadruple digit increases.”
West Dallas has been hit particularly hard by increasing property values, Ames said.
“West Dallas has seen it the worst,” he said. “I mean, it’s happening in the whole county because the whole Dallas County is just a hot market right now. But West Dallas, you’re seeing it because of so much development over there. It’s a hot area.”
How to fix rising property tax bills?
There are a few ways to get your property tax bill lowered.
You can protest the market value increase. Toler’s son, Will, is holding workshops ahead of Dallas County’s May 15 appraisal protest deadline.
The Toler workshops are held on Saturdays and Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m at 3107 North Winnetka Ave. in Dallas. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.
Check with your county to find the protest deadline date. Tarrant County’s, for example, is May 24.
If you’re disabled or at the age of 65 or older, you can also claim an exemption. Make sure your tax breaks are still in place, Ames said.
Velasquez had no tax exemptions. She tried earlier, but she said the exemption process was too difficult.
“I just found it very confusing, and the terminology was technical. It was very difficult for me to get through,” she said. “I completed it as best as I could send it in. And they sent me back another letter that was just as confusing and just as intimidating as the initial application. So I said ‘Oh, forget it. I’ll deal with it later.’”
Time passed and she didn’t deal with it. But by luck, a friend forwarded Velasquez information about one of Toler’s workshops.
Her case was tricky. Velasquez’s grandfather didn’t have a will proving that she inherited the home. She was missing one piece of evidence to prove heirship — his death certificate.
Velasquez tried to get it years ago but failed because she was told only surviving children could get a copy. Toler hit gold.
He learned that the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library downtown has death certificates on file. If it’s older than 25 years, anyone can obtain the document.
With the new information, Velasquez’s exemptions were finally approved. She was granted a homestead exemption and an over-65 exemption that covered her taxes from 2021 onward.
She’ll now use the little bit of money she’s been able to save to spruce up her west Dallas home. But she knows not everyone is as lucky as her.
Her sister and brother live in the same neighborhood. Both have seen their taxes rise too. The sister is disabled, and she doesn’t have any property tax exemptions, Velasquez said.
“Everybody’s hurting, in my neighborhood anyway,” she said. “Maybe somebody out there somewhere will figure out a way to help provide some relief for some of those families. I am not going to stay awake at night worrying about how I’m going to pay my taxes anymore, but I know there are people who do.”