Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he wants to push for the city to have the lowest property tax rate of any major city in the region, but in the meantime is looking for some financial relief himself.
The mayor and his wife are protesting the appraised value of their more than 5,000-square-foot White Rock Lake area home in East Dallas, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District. The property was appraised at almost $1.6 million, and Johnson’s family is estimated to pay close to $33,000 in city, school district, county, college and hospital district taxes. A little more than a quarter of it, 28%, would go to the city.
The Johnsons have owned the home since 2012, according to public records. Appraisal district records show they have appealed their appraisal every year since, said Cheryl Jordan, the appraisal district’s director of community relations. She said she didn’t know the results of those appeals.
In an April 2021 newsletter to residents, Johnson noted the largest portion of property taxes typically go to the school district, not the city, and that Dallas “already has the highest property tax rate of any major city in the state.”
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“Your school district will take up the lion’s share of what you owe,” Johnson said. “But the cost will be significant, and you will probably ask yourself the perennial question: Is it worth it?”
Neither Mayor Johnson nor his office’s spokesperson responded to requests for comment Friday.
The market value of the Johnsons’ home has gone from $280,000 in 2013 to $1.8 million this year, according to appraisal district data. The market value is an estimate of how much the home could be sold for, while the appraised value is the figure the central appraisal district uses to determine a homeowner’s tax bill.
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