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Tax breaks for more daycare centers in the works
State Sen. Royce West has filed a bill to exempt day care facilities from property taxes. The hope is the money saved will go to salary increases for workers.
DALLAS - State Sen. Royce West has filed a bill to exempt day care facilities from property taxes. The hope is the money saved will go to salary increases for workers.
Local perspective:
Sen. West has been working on ways to continue what he started last legislative session for day care facilities like the Kids Are Us Learning Center in DeSoto.
"We were able to pass a bill, and the voters of the state of Texas voted to allow day care centers that were offering the Rising Star curriculum to get a tax break," Sen. West said.
The 100% property tax break is only for centers using the Texas Rising Star Program. The state-created rating and improvement system goes beyond minimum standards and requires early childhood programs to meet certain requirements.
West’s efforts also include tax help for child care facilities that rent space from others like the Journey Child Development Center.
The building owner gets the property tax break if they agree to pass the savings on to the child care operator.
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What they're saying:
"We were just approved. It’s been long-awaited and it sets us apart," said Marga Morgan, with Kid Are Us Learning Center.
"It's going to be a great help because I am on a triple-net lease, which means that I'm responsible for the overage of taxes from the time that I started. And so I’m probably going to save over these next couple of years close to about $12,000," said Danyell Smith with Journey Child Development.
The money will be put to much better use paying their employees.
"I have staff that I'm continuing to try to keep on so that they can continue to earn a livable wage, and I want to continue to keep them working," Smith said.
"It would help not just with payroll. It would help us be able to improve some of the facilities and some of the equipment that we have," Morgan said.
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What's next:
This session, West has pre-filed another bill that would extend the property tax relief to all child care facilities, even those not in the Rising Star program.
"If we can help reduce that cost, it would move to the benefit of the customers, the parents that have to use day care as part of their life in order to make certain that they can make all ends meet," West said.
And for center operators as well.
"It would foster a better quality of education for the kids in a daycare setting," Morgan said.
The Source: FOX 4's Shaun Rabb interviewed Sen. Royse West and local daycare providers to gather details for this story.