August Is When Your Property Tax Rate Actually Gets Set

Most Houston homeowners think of property taxes as a spring thing. The appraisal notice shows up, you protest the value or you don't, and that's the end of it. But the appraised value is only half of your bill. The other half is the rate, and the rate gets set right now. Under Texas law, every taxing unit that bills you — county, city, school district, and any special districts — has to adopt its rate before September 30 or within 60 days of receiving the certified appraisal roll, whichever comes first. Before that vote, each one has to publish what it's proposing and hold a public hearing.

Here's the part most people never use. Go to Texas.gov/PropertyTaxes and it will point you to your county's property tax database, where you can pull up your own address and see the proposed rate from every entity that taxes it, along with the date, time, and location of each hearing. The database is updated through August and September as rates are proposed and adopted. Showing up to a hearing is a separate thing from protesting your appraised value — different process, different deadline — and it's the only point in the year where you get a say in the rate itself.

I live in Spring Branch and get the same notices in the mail everyone else does. This is one I read. If you want help making sense of your notice, or figuring out what a proposed rate would do to your monthly payment, call or text me at 281-818-8177.