Qualified child care facilities in Bowie County will save some money thanks to a property tax exemption.
The Bowie County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a county-wide property tax exemption for qualified child care facilities during their March meeting. The City of DeKalb passed the same measure to exempt facilities located in the city.
The exemption is a measure passed by the Texas Legislature which allowed Texas counties and cities to exempt certain child care facilities from local property taxes.
To qualify for exemption, a child care facility must be state licensed, be a Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Texas Rising Star program and have at least 20 percent of the children they serve enrolled in TWC’s Child Care Services (CSS).
The measure could be hitting local city council agendas soon. DeKalb has put the measure on the agenda for their next regular meeting. Other local cities said they are looking into the requirements and will make the determination if it will be up for a vote soon.
Qualified child care facilities will still be required to pay the taxes for the school district and emergency services district that apply.
Local daycare owners are thankful for the exemption.
“We appreciate it … We were essential workers in 2020. We didn’t get hazard pay,” said Samantha Morgan, owner of Little Rascals. “It’s been a burden since, everything has gone up, trying to keep staff since then, everybody has struggled since 2020.”
Morgan said the exemption will save Little Rascals about $350 a year, based on the 2024 tax rate. Little Rascals is located in Malta which makes it exempt from any city property taxes.
“I will be using that extra money to go toward Christmas bonuses,” Morgan said.
Autumn Steinhilber, owner of Noah’s Ark Daycare in New Boston, said the extra funds they are able to save on county and possible city property taxes will go back into the operating budget for the daycare.
“It doesn’t seem like a whole lot when you’re running a business, but it is a lot to a certain degree. We could put that toward supplies or maintenance or new stuff for the kids,” Steinhilber said.
Morgan said that the state and county approving the measure was like receiving a gift.
“When COVID hit and shut down the world in March of 2020, Mother’s Day and Teacher’s Appreciation Week always fall on the same week, we had more gifts from parents that year than we have ever had. That’s how we felt by getting this. It wasn’t just the parents, someone else was acknowledging that we’re more than glorified babysitters,” she said.
