FORT WORTH — Tarrant County residents may have to pay more property taxes next year if a proposal passed Thursday is greenlit by their local commissioners.

The John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) Board of Managers dismissed a proposal on Thursday to recommend a no-new-revenue property tax rate. The board instead recommended maintaining the current property tax rate for the hospital, even as property values continue to rise in the area, meaning residents would pay more in property taxes.

JPS is a privately run but tax-supported health network that relies on a portion of property taxes in Tarrant County. The property tax rate for JPS sits at $0.224 per $100, which results in a $672 tax on a house that appraises at $300,000.

The decision by the board to dismiss a no-new-revenue tax rate comes as the hospital has roughly $1.2 billion in cash on hand, which is equivalent to 344 days of operation, according to a presentation at the Thursday board meeting.

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will vote Tuesday on whether to adopt the JPS board recommendation.

Blake Woodard was one of three board members who voted against the motion to keep the property tax rate as is. He proposed an estimated no-new-revenue tax rate to accommodate for increases in property value, which was $0.203 per $100.

He said the county commissioners are unlikely to accept the board’s proposal to keep their tax rate.

“I really didn’t expect this — I thought the board would go for the no-new-revenue rate,” Woodard told The Dallas Express. “We’ve got to recommend something that the commissioners court is going to accept, and we didn’t do that today.”

Woodard, along with board member Tim Davis, engaged in several hours of debate over the tax rate with several of their colleagues, emphasizing the health system’s plethora of cash on hand and the burden of taxes on the community amid a struggling economy. 

The most vocal of the seven-vote board majority was Trent Petty, who said that JPS may not always be in a solid financial position, which would then require tax hikes in the future that would be difficult to pass through the commissioners.

“The concern is that if we look at it one year at a time, we might end up in a situation that we have to ask for additional dollars and an additional rate in the future,” Petty told The Dallas Express. “And I think that’s unlikely and uncomfortable.”

Two constituents testified before the board on Thursday in opposition to any property tax not at a level of no new revenue. Joel Starnes, a marketing analyst, said now is the perfect time to provide tax relief to the community.

“Taxation is a moral issue,” Starnes told the board members. “We’ve been overtaxed, and that shows in your cash on hand.”

“Once you start shaking the tree, you just keep shaking,” Starnes later told The Dallas Express. “It’s that simple. There’s no one watching. There’s no oversight. It’s an unelected bureaucracy. The only way to hold them accountable is to hold our commissioners accountable.”

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court responded to these concerns last month when it approved a 10% exemption to the region’s hospital tax — a measure opposed by two members of the JPS board, according to the Forth Worth Culture Map.

Jennifer Blunt, a community volunteer, testified before the JPS board that a failure to implement a no-new-revenue property tax rate could put constituents out of their homes.

“I’m asking for relief for the taxpayer,” Blunt told the board. “A lot of taxpayers are already suffering from high gasoline prices, food prices, and other things like that, so any increase in the property tax could very well put them out of their home.”

Texas homeowners face the sixth-highest state property taxes in the nation. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ceremoniously signed what he declared was the largest property tax cut in state history on Wednesday.