Tim O’Hare, the Republican candidate for Tarrant County judge, says he wants to lower the county property tax rate by 20%.

Compared to the tax rate recently adopted, O’Hare’s proposal would have meant a tax savings of $143 for the owner of a $350,000 home, a tiny portion of a tax bill that tops $8,500.

The tax cut would have removed $105.5 million from the $904.7 million budget. That figure represents 46% of the county’s public safety budget and 60% of the county’s judicial budget, though O’Hare has not said he would target those departments. The county judge and the four county commissioners set the tax rate each year.

O’Hare faces Democrat Deborah Peoples in the Nov. 8 election. Early voting starts Oct. 24.

O’Hare declined an interview with the Star-Telegram and instead asked that questions be emailed to his political strategist.

O’Hare said he would find savings by reducing the staff through attrition, eliminating wasteful spending and abuse, establishing zero-based budgeting, cutting county contract costs by 1% to 2% and enlisting nonprofits and private sectors to fulfill county needs.

Tarrant County’s employment trends have followed the rest of the nation, which saw 47.4 million people quit their jobs in 2021. The county lost 1,625 employees to terminations, retirements and resignations from March 2020 to mid-June 2022.

As part of an employee retention plan, county workers will receive an extra $4,900 in 2022. They’ll also receive a 4% raise on Oct. 1 and an average 3% merit increase on Jan. 1.

O’Hare said he saw a need to increase Tarrant County’s commercial and industrial tax base. He believes most elected officials think the tax base relies too heavily on residential properties.

While O’Hare’s proposed 20% rate cut focuses only on county property taxes, he said he believes officials should look for efficiencies and new revenue streams at the county’s public hospital system, JPS Health Network.

Richard Auxier, senior policy associate with Tax Policy Center in Washington, said when it comes to tax cuts, policymakers will set a target and leave the hard parts to figure out later.

And outgoing Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley isn’t so sure O’Hare tax rate cut could happen like O’Hare plans.

In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Whitley said that not touching law enforcement or the DA’s office like O’Hare promised couldn’t happen without taking the ax to all other county departments.

“The only way you do that is with people,” Whitley said. “I mean, that’s 70-75% of our budget is salaries and stuff. So in effect, you’re going to devastate the tax departments and clerks and all those other departments.”

Ahead of a fundraiser for Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate Mike Collier in Fort Worth on Wednesday evening, Whitley further criticized O’Hare’s idea to cut back spending through attrition.

“There’s been a lot of statements made that it just kind of shows somebody didn’t know what they’re talking about,” Whitley told a press pool.

It’s a great campaign deal, Whitley said, but he said he doesn’t see how it could possibly happen. There could be 20% budget relief, he said, if state inmates held in the Tarrant County jail were incarcerated in state facilities.

Whitley pointed back to the schools as being the biggest portion of a tax bill. In Fort Worth, school taxes take up half of residents’ bills. It’s something Democratic candidate Deborah Peoples echoed.

“We need to be down in Austin lobbying the legislators to fully fund public education, and then people will start to see some relief on their taxes,” Peoples told the Star-Telegram. “He can cut the county portion by 20%, but it’s not going to be what people think. It may be several hundred dollars, but it is not going to be the 20% that they’re thinking.”

A budget cut of more than $105.5 million, Peoples said, would mean the elimination of resources elsewhere in the county. O’Hare’s number is one she argues is a “campaign platitude” and that there needed to be due diligence to see what would be impacted.

Reporter Eleanor Dearman contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 29, 2022 10:04 AM.