Stack 2: Costs & Taxes · 4 min read
Packing notes
- A City of Austin and Austin ISD home paid about $2.05 per $100 of value in 2025, before exemptions.
- Protest your appraisal by May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later.
- Taxes are delinquent if not paid before February 1.
If you are moving to Austin from a state with an income tax, Texas property tax will be the line in your budget that takes the most getting used to. The Comptroller puts it simply: Texas has no state property tax, and local governments set rates and collect property taxes to pay for schools, streets, police, fire protection and other services. The total depends on which local taxing units cover your address and on the value the appraisal district sets each year.
Who taxes an Austin home
A typical home in the City of Austin and Austin ISD is taxed by five units. Travis County publishes every unit’s rates, and for the 2025 tax year they were:
| Taxing unit | 2025 rate per $100 of taxable value |
|---|---|
| Austin ISD | 0.925200 |
| City of Austin | 0.524017 |
| Travis County | 0.375845 |
| Travis Central Health | 0.118023 |
| Austin Community College | 0.103400 |
| Total | 2.046485 |
The school district is the largest piece, close to half the total. Rates are set every year, and several units have already adopted higher 2026 rates: the City of Austin adopted 0.579948 and Travis County 0.386210 for 2026. Addresses outside Austin ISD, or inside a municipal utility district, will have a different list.
An example
On a home appraised at $555,300, the Census median value for Austin, the 2025 rates add up to about $11,364 a year before exemptions, or roughly $947 a month. If you live in the home and claim the homestead exemption, school districts must exempt $140,000 of its value, which at the Austin ISD rate saves about $1,295 a year. Any taxing unit may also offer its own percentage exemption of up to 20 percent of value. See The Texas Homestead Exemption: How Austin Buyers Claim It and What It Saves.
Tip: Do not budget from the seller’s tax bill. If the seller had a homestead exemption, an over-65 freeze or a capped value, your first bill can be noticeably higher. Estimate from the full appraised value and the current rates.
How the value is set
The Comptroller explains that appraisal districts appraise property at its value as of January 1 each year. In Travis County that is the Travis Central Appraisal District. Market conditions and who owns the property on that date decide whether it is taxable, the value at which it can be taxed and who owes the tax. It then sends owners a notice of appraised value, which starts the clock for a protest.
The homestead cap
If the home is your residence homestead, Section 23.23 of the Tax Code limits how fast its appraised value can rise for tax purposes. The appraisal district may not increase it to more than the lesser of its market value or last year’s appraised value plus 10 percent, plus the value of any new improvements. The limit begins on January 1 of the tax year after the first year you qualify for the homestead exemption. A home appraised at $500,000 one year can be appraised at no more than $550,000 the next, even if the market rose faster.
Protesting your value
If you think the appraisal is too high, you can protest. The Comptroller and the Travis Central Appraisal District give the same deadline: May 15 or 30 days after the notice of appraised value is mailed, whichever is later. TCAD says filing online is the easiest and fastest way, and that every owner who files gets access to the district’s evidence packet through the online portal. After you file, you can meet informally with an appraiser; if you do not accept a settlement, the case goes to the appraisal review board, a panel of local citizens that the Comptroller says begins hearing protests around May 15.
- Read the notice as soon as it arrives and note the protest deadline.
- Gather evidence: recent sales of similar homes, photos of needed repairs, contractor estimates.
- File online with TCAD and review the district’s evidence packet.
- Try the informal meeting first; many protests settle there.
- If needed, present your case to the appraisal review board.
When taxes are due
Under Section 31.02 of the Tax Code, taxes are due on receipt of the bill and are delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the following year. The Comptroller notes that in many counties the county tax assessor-collector collects for all taxing units, with bills going out around October 1. Most buyers with a mortgage pay through an escrow account: the lender collects a share each month and pays the bill when it comes due.
The tax at closing
Tax bills for the whole calendar year go out in the fall and are paid by the end of January, so a sale earlier in the year usually closes before the current year’s tax has been paid. Ask the title company how the contract and the settlement statement handle that year’s tax, and check the line on your Closing Disclosure; Closing Costs in Texas: Title Insurance, Lender Fees and What to Expect explains the other items.
Key dates
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| January 1 | Appraisal date; homestead eligibility is set by who lives there |
| After the appraisal | Notice of appraised value mailed |
| May 15, or 30 days after the notice | Protest deadline, whichever is later |
| Before May 1 | Homestead application deadline for owners on January 1 |
| Around October 1 | Tax bills go out |
| Before February 1 | Pay to avoid delinquency |
To compare homes across the region by their likely tax bills, see Austin-Area Neighborhoods by Budget: Where Different Price Ranges Go Furthest, which lists school district rates side by side.