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Paying Your Property Taxes
How are taxes calculated? Your property is actually "taxed" by the cities, schools, counties and special districts (the taxing entities) -- they calculate the amount of tax you owe, they send you the tax bill and they collect the tax payments. The Dallas Central Appraisal District appraises property in Dallas County and parts of the surrounding counties in order to determine the value of your property. This value is in turn used by the taxing entities in calculating your property taxes. Your property tax amount is calculated by taking the market value (as determined by the Appraisal District) and subtracting any appropriate exemptions (granted by the appraisal district) to determine the taxable value then multiplying this taxable value by each applicable taxing entities’ tax rate. How are the tax rates determined? Each entity determines their tax rate by first determining what and how many services they will provide in the coming year and how much revenue they need to support these services. The appraisal district provides them an appraisal roll listing the value of all the taxable properties within the boundaries of the taxing entity. The taxing entity then takes the revenue or income needed and divides it by the taxable value to calculate the tax rate which is adopted by the taxing unit’s governing body (i.e., city council, school board or commissioners court). This is basically how the taxing entities establish the tax rate necessary to raise the needed tax dollars to fund their budget. However, there are "Truth in Taxation" laws, that limit how much this tax rate can be and sometimes require a vote by the public to approve a tax rate that exceeds a certain percentage. For a listing of each taxing unit’s tax rate and exemptions offered, you may refer to the detail listing of 2000 Ad Valorem Tax Rates for Dallas County at this website.When are taxes due? Taxes become due when the taxpayer receives a bill. Most taxing entities mail their bills around October 1. Typically, taxpayers have until January 31 of the following year to pay their taxes and therefore becomes delinquent on February 1 when penalty and interest charges begin accumulating on most unpaid tax bills. However, if a taxing unit mails an initial bill after January 10, that tax becomes delinquent on the first day of the next month, thus providing at least 21 days for payment. Throughout the year, tax collectors mail notices to delinquent taxpayers and take legal action to secure payment of overdue taxes, penalties and interest. If you have questions about your taxes, you should call the appropriate taxing entity. However, if you have a question concerning your property value, exemption status, ownership or address correction, you should contact the appraisal district at 214-631-0910. |
