Department: County Judge
Department Head/Elected Official: Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action to create an exemption from Harris County ad valorem taxation of 100 percent of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child care facility, as defined in the Texas Tax Code.
end
Background and Discussion: During the 88th Legislative Session, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1145 and Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 64 to amend Article VIII of the Texas Constitution to allow cities and counties the option to provide an exemption from ad valorem property taxation between 50 to 100 percent of the appraised value of all or a part of real property used to operate a child care facility, contingent on voter approval. On November 7, 2023, 64.8 percent of Texas voters approved the constitutional amendment (Proposition 2), which paved the way for SB 1145 and SJR 64 to officially become law on January 1, 2024. To be eligible for property tax exemptions, child care providers must participate in the Texas Workforce Commission’s Texas Rising Star Program and maintain a minimum 20 percent enrollment of children receiving subsidized services through the Texas Workforce Commission, among other criteria outlined in SB 1145. This exemption would only apply to Harris County property taxes and is not applicable to the taxes for Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Hospital District, or the Port of Houston Authority.
HCAD has given Harris County a recommended deadline of March 31, 2024 to authorize the exemptions if they are to be implemented in the 2024 tax year to allow HCAD to incorporate the exemptions into the certified appraisal roll used by the county to adopt its annual tax rate.
Expected Impact: The Harris County Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimates that 327 of the 1,614 (20%) registered childcare providers in Harris County participate in the Texas Rising Star program (and are not already 100% tax exempt), and thus could potentially benefit from the SB1145 tax exemption. OMB further estimates the potential tax impact from a 100% tax exemption for these qualifying child care providers to be $930,000. There is no revenue impact to the County.
Alternative Options: If Harris County authorizes the exemptions after March 31, 2024 and wishes the exemptions to apply to the 2024 tax year, this would result in a revenue loss for the county since HCAD will likely not have enough time to process applications and incorporate the exemptions into the certified 2024 appraisal roll. In this case, exemptions would appear on supplemental appraisal rolls which would require the county to issue tax refunds to child care providers and result in an estimated tax revenue loss of $930,000. Alternatively, the county can wait to authorize the exemptions for the 2025 tax year which could delay critical financial assistance that many child care providers need immediately, now that federal funding has expired.
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
X Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any): N/A
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
|
|
|
Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
N/A |
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: March 26, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Fernanda Marrero, Senior Policy Advisor, County Judge’s Office
Attachments (if applicable): Policy and Sample Application