Fort Worth joins other Texas cities in approving tax breaks for child care facilities

Fort Worth follows cities like Dallas, Denton and Austin in providing full property tax relief to qualified daycare centers.

The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday approved the tax exemption, which will be applied to 100% of a facility's assessed value starting this year. The council vote was unanimous, with Councilman Chris Nettles recusing himself as the owner and operator of a child care facility.

The regulation came after Proposition 2 was approved by nearly 65% ​​of Texas voters in November, giving local governments the option to provide the tax breaks to a sector that has struggled financially, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Felicia Davis, owner of Ready Set Jump learning centers in east Fort Worth, told council members during public comment that “child care programs, as you know, are the backbone of our local economy,” providing a safe and nurturing environment for children and their parents offer to work or go to school. Davis said she would use the money saved from the tax break to take her preschool students on field trips to places like farms where the children can see where their nutritious food comes from.

“We are forced to make difficult decisions: either keep prices low so our parents can afford our services, or raise tuition so we can invest in the quality of our programs and pay our employees what they deserve said Davis. “This property tax relief will finally give us some breathing room. Most importantly, it will help ensure quality centers serving low-income children remain open so they can continue to provide much-needed child care services to families.”

Qualified child care providers must be part of Texas Rising Star, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early childhood programs, and must also have at least 20% of enrolled children receiving subsidized services through the Texas Workforce Commission. With that in mind, there are 54 eligible child care programs in Fort Worth out of a total of about 338 that are eligible for the waiver, according to Fort Worth officials. The city's estimated general fund revenue loss is $200,000. its general fund budget for fiscal year 2023 is $915.3 million.

The city estimates the savings of an average child care provider is more than $3,600. Both property owners and child care directors who rent their space would benefit financially, but child care home operators on a property that already qualifies for a homestead exemption would not be eligible for the child care exemption.

Carlanda Reeves, who runs the child care home Carlanda's Heavenly Care, also spoke out in the public statement, describing operators like her as “overworked and underpaid.” She said she would use the extra money to provide transportation services to her families. Reeves was unaware that she could not use the child care exemption in addition to her homestead exemption until she was informed by the Star-Telegram after the council vote.

“It is critical that they provide the same benefits to home-based settings,” she said. “We do the same thing, but on a smaller level.”

Mayor Mattie Parker thanked the childcare workers who attended the meeting and hoped the tax exemption would serve as recognition for their work.

“It’s not easy being a Texas Rising Star child care facility. This means that you are of high quality and want to do this every year. We are incredibly grateful for this. Each of you is an integral part of this community’s economic development to ensure we provide high-quality early childhood education to all children across the city of Fort Worth.”