City hopes tax break will facilitate more childcare options for families
19 Aug 2024
City of Seguin, City Council
Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Darren Dunn
(Seguin) — The city of Seguin is taking advantage of a state law that should help to provide more childcare opportunities in the community.
Alora Wachholz, deputy director of economic development for the city of Seguin, says state law gives the city the ability to offer a tax break to qualified child care facilities.
“At the previous council meeting, I did provide a presentation to you all about Senate Bill 1145 which did amend Article 8 Section 1-R of the Texas Constitution to allow cities and counties the opportunity to authorize local ordinances that would create a property tax exemption for certain qualified childcare facilities,” said Wachholz.
Wachholz says rules for receiving the tax break are clearly defined. There are a number of existing child care centers in Seguin that would qualify, and the hope is that this will encourage even more quality child care options in the city.
“A qualified childcare facility as defined under SB 1145 is one that participates in the Texas Rising Star Program which has certain levels of oversight and requirements for certified providers and that is also a facility in which at least 20 percent of their student body receives subsidization through the Texas Workforce Commission,” said Wachholz.
The tax break would only be applied to portions of a facility that are directly used for child care purposes, and it would not be an option for child care based out of someone’s home.
“The appraised value that can be exempted under this option is only for the portion of a facility used for childcare. So, if it is a facility with multiple uses, it would only be on the portion of the building that they do provide childcare services in,” said Wachholz.
Quality child care is a real need for communities across the state. City officials say they hope that this move will also attract more quality child care options to the community. Guadalupe County is also eligible to offer this tax break to child care facilities, but that action would have to be considered by the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court.
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