Texas has no state property tax. Your property tax bill comes from local taxing units like your city, county, school district and special districts, each setting its own rate every year. The bill is based on your home's appraised value as of Jan. 1, minus any exemptions you qualify for, times the combined local rates. Collection generally starts around Oct. 1, and you generally have until Jan. 31 of the following year to pay before penalties and interest start on Feb. 1 (Texas Comptroller). Because Texas has no state income tax, property taxes are usually a bigger part of the monthly housing cost here than buyers from other states expect.
Here's how the pieces fit, and what it means for your mortgage.
Your county's appraisal district sets the value of every property as of Jan. 1 each year (Tax Code 23.01; Texas Comptroller). In Fort Worth, that's the Tarrant Appraisal District. Every taxing unit that taxes your home has to use the same value. The appraisal district doesn't set your tax rate or collect your tax. It values the property and processes exemption applications.
The county's value isn't the same as the appraisal your lender orders. They're different jobs done for different reasons, and they rarely match.
Exemptions reduce the taxable value. You generally have to apply for them with the appraisal district, and the general filing deadline is before May 1 (Texas Comptroller). The big ones for homeowners:
These amounts are from the Comptroller's exemptions page as checked on Oct 21, 2026. The Legislature changes them from time to time, so check the current page. See how to file for the Texas homestead exemption and age 65 and disabled exemptions.
If you buy after Jan. 1, you may get the homestead exemption for the part of the year after you qualify, as long as the seller didn't already receive the same exemption that year (Texas Comptroller).
Each taxing unit decides how much it wants to raise and adopts a rate every year. The Comptroller counts more than 4,796 local taxing units across Texas. A typical Fort Worth area bill can include the city, county, school district, hospital district, college district, and sometimes a municipal utility district or emergency services district. I don't print rates here because they change every year and differ from one side of a street to the other when district lines split a neighborhood.
For each taxing unit: appraised value, minus that unit's exemptions, times that unit's rate. Then add up all the units. The Comptroller gives this example: a home appraised at $300,000 with the $140,000 school exemption is taxed by the school district as if it were worth $160,000.
That's why a higher value doesn't always mean a higher bill if rates fall, and a lower rate doesn't guarantee a lower bill if values rise. For homesteads, Texas also limits how much the appraised value used for taxes can grow each year. See the homestead appraisal cap.
Source for these dates: Texas Comptroller property tax basics and exemptions pages. Your local appraisal district and tax office publish exact dates.
Most loans collect property taxes monthly in an escrow account, and the servicer pays the bill when it comes due. Federal rules let the servicer hold a cushion of no more than one-sixth of the estimated yearly escrow payments, and require an escrow analysis and annual statement (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.17). When your tax bill changes, your escrow amount changes at the next analysis. See how escrow accounts work.
The lender can't know next year's rates before the taxing units adopt them. An honest estimate starts with the current rates and a realistic value, and it says plainly that it will change. Watch for these:
Texas taxes are billed in the fall for the whole calendar year, so they're settled between buyer and seller at closing. The TREC one to four family resale contract (form 20-19) prorates current year taxes through the closing date, allows the proration to consider exemption changes, and requires the parties to adjust when actual bills are available. If taxes aren't paid at or before closing, the buyer pays the current year's taxes (TREC 20-19, paragraph 13). See property tax proration.
This example is made up to show how the pieces fit.
The Nguyens are moving from Colorado to a home in north Fort Worth. They saw the seller's last tax bill online and budgeted around it. But the seller was over 65 and had the additional school exemption, so the bill they saw was lower than what they'll pay. Their estimate uses the full value with only the general homestead exemption, since they'll file for it once they move in. They also learn the home sits in a municipal utility district, which adds another line to the bill. After closing, they file their homestead application, watch for next year's value notice, and check the escrow analysis when it arrives. None of that changes their loan approval, but it keeps the payment from surprising them a year later.
Buying in Tarrant County or nearby and want a realistic property tax estimate before you pick a house? I'll walk you through the taxing units, exemptions and escrow for the specific address. Book a call, or start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026