- Katy Harper, Owner of Little Barn Owls
A request from a new childcare center for tax exemption under SJR 64 did not move forward following a 2-2 vote from the Bandera County Commissioners on April 11.
The matter was brought to the commissioners’ court on March 28 by Kevin and Katy Harper, owners of Little Barn Owls, located at 4003 Hwy 173.
SJR 64, adopted by the house last May, states: “The governing body of a county or municipality may exempt from ad valorem taxation all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility. The governing body may adopt the exemption as a percentage of the appraised value of the real property. The percentage specified by the governing body may not be less than 50 percent. The legislature by general law may define ‘child-care facility’ for purposes of this section and may provide additional eligibility requirements for the exemption authorized by this section.”
Before the March 28 discussion began, Bandera County Judge Richard Evans recused himself, stating his family was involved in childcare services.
Commissioner Jack Moseley, who brought forth the item to the agenda, stressed that there is a shortage of childcare facilities in Bandera County and Texas overall and asked that the court adopt a 100% exemption on property taxes for childcare facilities.
He pointed out there are currently only two childcare facilities in Bandera County: the Children’s Depot in Pipe Creek and Noah’s Ark in Bandera.
Kevin Harper said not just anyone watching someone’s children could obtain this exemption, then explained how difficult it is to get a childcare license with the State of Texas.
“I think that Texas realized this when they proposed this and that’s why it got passed,” he told the court. “Texas lost 21% of its providers from March 2020 to Sept 2021. Of those programs, 41% served infants and toddlers. 79% were classified as childcare centers.”
He said losses were due to economic stressors like higher Inflation impacting food and consumable goods costs, increasing rent, higher utilities and increasing property taxes.
Referencing the proposed tax reprieve, Kevin said, “This would provide an opportunity for owners to pass that discount back to the childcare center, so it would directly impact the families that are using the childcare center.”
Katy told the court the center is currently serving 20 families after being open for one month. She stressed the extraordinary overhead costs to run the center, including the rising cost of food and feeding the children three times a day.
“Other centers are full, and our local people have no other option,” she said. “I’ve been asking the question – what are people doing that can’t find childcare? I guess they’re not working, which is not benefitting or economy at all.”
Katy said the property is divided into four lots, and the Bandera County Appraisal District (BCAD) already taxes them individually per lot.
“The lot that the daycare is located on is the one that would be tax exempt. So, the other three lots on our property, we will still pay taxes on,” she said.
Rutherford said, “I can’t actually go for this at all because I don’t do abatements and I don’t do tax exempt. This needs to be done as a business and not as a county welfare,” stated Rutherford.
Kevin responded, “It’s the children of this county that need...”
Rutherford interjected, “Don’t bring up the children. You need to operate as a business and pay taxes like everyone else.”
Katy added, “Schools don’t pay taxes. Churches don’t pay taxes. I’m literally the steppingstone for children going into school.”
“You’re not a school.”, responded Rutherford.
“I am a school.”, said Katy. “You’re a daycare, not a school,” said Rutherford.
“We are a childcare center with a curriculum.”, said Kevin.
After Rutherford said that he did not want to argue with them, Kevin stated, “The benefit on this will outweigh the con.”
Mosely reminded the court the Bandera ISD voted to adopt a four-day school week starting in the next school year, posing a need for childcare.
Katy echoed this sentiment, adding she was in talks with the Boys and Girls Club, who only accept children over the age of six.
So, the children six and under won’t have a place to go,” said Katy.
The court voted to table the matter until April 11 so Moseley could meet with BCAD Interim Chief Appraiser Maria Garcia to analyze the bill and discuss a plan.
When the court revisited the matter last Thursday, the vote to adopt ended in a tie, with Rutherford and Commissioner Bruce Eliker voting against and Commissioners Greg Grothues and Jack Moseley voting for adoption.With the absence of Judge Evans presence in the matter, a tie-breaking vote was not possible. It was not clear if the matter would be on the court’s next agenda.
Rutherford declined to comment regarding his vote, and Eliker did not respond to the Bulletin by press deadline.
In response to the conclusion, Katie told the Bulletin: “We’re not giving up. We are going back to the next session. And we plan to continue going until we get our point across.
“Rutherford continues to bring up outlandish scenarios like, ‘What if someone has a 500 acre property with horses on it and claims it’s being used for a daycare.’ I told him that cannot happen because daycare children cannot touch nor ride horses while in care per minimum standards.
He called the minimum standards book ‘that little book,’ when it’s indeed a 293-page criteria that must be met before being licensed by the state. We just feel as if they have not educated themselves on how difficult it is to become a licensed center.
We do understand their concern about people abusing this exemption, however, if they would stop and listen and learn about the hoops that must be jumped through to become a licensed center, then they would probably have more insight on why we are pushing this and why the state of Texas passed it to begin with.
We were stopped by numerous people on the way out of court calling this ‘foolishness’ and ‘nonsense.’ This isn’t over for us.”
The court meets next on Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m. in the Bandera County Courthouse.
