How Texas businesses are avoiding higher property values

Tarrant County homeowners are smarting from the pain of the area’s exploding housing prices. Take Wes Bullock for example. In just four years, the appraised value of his Keller home rose 34%, and his tax bill jumped 22% or $966. With another 10% value increase on his home this year, he’s sure to pay even more soon. His case is common. Tarrant Chief Appraiser Jeff Law estimates residential property values rose 20% in 2021 alone. This year, homeowners on a fixed income are questioning whether they can afford the increase in property taxes. Others are even considering leaving the state, which has one of the highest property tax rates in the country. Throughout Fort Worth, people are getting taxed out of their own homes. Do you know who’s not? Walmart.

Walmart’s 37 Tarrant County stores that have been open at least five years decreased in value on average between 2017 and 2021, according to a Star-Telegram analysis of Tarrant Appraisal District records. The market value of the company’s commercial property in the county fell from $294 million to $287 million, a decrease of 2.5% overall. Walmart did not respond to requests for comment. In the same time period, the median home price in Tarrant County increased by 51%, according to data from the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors. This juxtaposition is emblematic of a larger issue at play: not only are commercial property owners not paying their fair share of property taxes; homeowners across Texas are picking up the slack. The system is set up this way. Walmart isn’t doing anything illegal to deflate its property taxes. Nor is it the only company to take advantage of existing Texas law. They all are. In fact, they’re missing out if they’re not. The state loses $26 billion of taxable property each year as a result of a tax code amendment in 1997, according to the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts.