The Lampasas County Commissioners Court will vote Monday about adopting a resolution urging the governor and Texas Legislature to amend a statute that has denied the county more than $1 million in funding since 2009.
County Judge Randy Hoyer invited State Rep. Brad Buckley and State Senator Dawn Buckingham to attend the meeting and said he hopes they will champion the resolution in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate.
A constitutional amendment approved by Texas citizens in 2009 exempts veterans rated as unemployable or 100% disabled from paying homestead property taxes.
In 2011, surviving spouses of 100% disabled veterans became eligible for the exemption.
Hoyer said injured veterans are “100% deserving” of the benefit, and the commissioners endorse the statute.
“We support it, we like it,” the county judge said. “But it has created an unintended consequence that is costing the county thousands of dollars.”
Many communities near military installations lose significant portions of their tax revenue due to the exemption, so the legislature in 2015 adopted Local Government Code Sec. 140.011, which provides financial assistance to counties and municipalities it considers “disproportionately affected” by the exemption.
To qualify for financial assistance, a county or municipality must lose 2% or more of its general-fund revenue due to the veterans’ property-tax exemption and must border or contain a military installation.
Since 2009, the exemption has cost the county $4,814,623. As of mid-October, the county lost $912,694 in tax revenue due to the exemption this year alone.
“This is, in my opinion, without a doubt the biggest financial issue facing the county right now,” Hoyer said.
Since 2015, it has lost at least 2% of its general-fund revenue each year, but because the county does not touch Fort Hood, it receives no reimbursement from the state. Between October 2018 and January 2019, Lampasas County lost 5.48% of its general-fund revenue.
The state reimburses qualifying counties and municipalities — including Coryell County, Bell County, Copperas Cove and Killeen — roughly 50% of the amount they lose due to the exemption. Since 2015, Lampasas County would have received $1,305,855 from the state if the county abutted Fort Hood.
Hoyer said $1 million is “huge to Lampasas County,” and receiving state reimbursement would enable the county to decrease its tax rate and improve its services. The county could use the funds to refine its roads or increase contributions to its volunteer fire departments, he said.
“This is near and dear to me as the county judge and as a taxpayer in the community,” Hoyer said.
Lampasas County ends just 1.7 miles from Fort Hood, he said.
Melissa Gonzales, chief appraiser for the Lampasas Central Appraisal District, has applied for reimbursement each year since 2015 despite the county’s ineligibility.
“Our county is so affected by this, and I wanted the state to realize,” Gonzales said. “It’s going to take legislation for our county to be approved, but I did want to make them aware.”
In Lampasas County, a one-cent increase in the tax rate generates approximately $110,000 in revenue.
Gonzales requested $447,023 in state assistance in 2019, according to the reimbursement formula.
Had the county been reimbursed, it could have reduced its 48-cent tax rate by 4 cents.
Hoyer pointed out that all Lampasas County property owners – including activeduty military members and non-disabled veterans – assume a greater tax burden as a result of the state’s refusal to provide the county financial assistance.
The exemption causes the Lampasas and Lometa school districts, as well as the city of Lampasas, to lose revenue, but these entities do not rely as heavily as the county does on property tax for revenue.
The city loses less than 2% of its generalfund revenue due to the exemption, Hoyer said.
In 2019, Buckley authored House Bill 634, which would have allowed cities in counties adjacent to or containing military installations to receive state reimbursement even if the municipalities did not touch the installation.
The bill did not pass the Texas Senate but would have made Harker Heights and Nolanville eligible to receive state funding.
Hoyer said he hopes Buckley and Buckingham will promote a measure during the upcoming legislative session that will apply to Lampasas County and all communities disproportionately affected by the exemption.
Hoyer said only a handful of counties and municipalities like Lampasas County, Harker Heights and Nolanville are disproportionately impacted by the exemption yet ineligible for reimbursement.
Many legislators are reluctant to support a bill appropriating state funds to just a few communities, but those communities bear the financial brunt of a mandate ratified by all Texas voters, Hoyer said.
“It was not our doing,” he said. “It was the state of Texas and the voters of the state of Texas, and it really needs to be funded by state revenue so that everybody has a piece of this to pay for.”
From 2009 to October 2020, Lampasas County’s annual tax-revenue losses due to the veterans’ property-tax exemption increased by 575%. Nationwide, the number of veterans receiving compensation for 100% disability classification grew from 260,000 in fiscalyear 2008 to 680,000 in fiscal-year 2018 — a 162% increase.
Gonzales said the Lampasas Central Appraisal District receives numerous requests for the exemption.
“We have people come in here daily and file for this,” she said.
Lampasas County proves an attractive place to live and retire, as it boasts a sub-humid climate and pleasant scenery and is just a few hours’ drive from the largest cities in the state, Hoyer said.
Many veterans retiring from Fort Hood consider Central Texas home, and they choose to live in Lampasas County to be near veterans’ resources and premier health-care facilities in the Killeen area while enjoying a rural lifestyle.
Hoyer said the Commissioners Court is proud that many veterans make Lampasas County their home, and commissioners have no intention to diminish or deprive them of the benefits they earned. They only ask that the state alleviate the financial strain inflicted by what they consider an unfunded mandate.
“We’re not trying to take something away,” Hoyer said. “We’re just trying to get the state of Texas to step up to the plate and reimburse and correct an injustice to the citizens of Lampasas County.”