If your property tax bill just landed and the number feels higher than you expected, you’re not imagining it. Across Texas, city councils, county commissioners, school boards, and hospital districts have spent the summer and early fall adopting new rates, and in several of the state’s biggest metros, those increases are some of the largest in decades.
Some of the Bigger Increases Around the State
Harris County just finalized a 7.6% property tax rate increase on September 17, 2026, one of the largest tax hikes in the county’s recent history. The combined rate, covering the county’s general fund, flood control district, Harris Health, and the Port of Houston Authority, landed at roughly $0.67 per $100 of taxable value, up from $0.6241 the year before. County estimates put the added cost at around $190 to $198 more per year for the average homeowner.
San Antonio approved its first city property tax rate increase in more than three decades in September 2026, a 3.9% bump that adds roughly $35 to $49 per year to the average homeowner’s city tax bill. That’s on top of rate increases being considered by the local school district, Alamo College District, and San Antonio River Authority.
Austin adopted a new city rate of $0.579948 per $100 of assessed value in August 2026, up from $0.524017 the year before, a 10.7% jump in the rate itself. Combined with rising fees for water, trash, and electricity, the typical homeowner’s added cost comes to roughly $285 per year.
Dallas County approved one of the steepest increases in the state, raising its maintenance and operations rate to $0.238566 per $100 of valuation, an increase of just over 22% from the prior year, with the debt service rate climbing by nearly 50%.
Every one of these was a separate decision made by a separate governing body, which is part of why so many Texans are seeing bigger jumps than they expected this year, even in cities where officials describe the increase as modest.
How Your Bill Is Actually Calculated
A Texas property tax bill isn’t one number set by one entity. It’s the sum of several rates, each set independently by a different taxing body with authority over your address: the city, the county, your school district, a community college district, a hospital or hospital district, and sometimes a municipal utility district or other special district layered on top.
Each of those entities calculates its rate by dividing the revenue it needs by the total taxable value of property in its jurisdiction, then expressing that as a rate per $100 of value. Your final bill is those rates added together, then multiplied against your property’s taxable value, which is your appraised value minus any exemptions you qualify for, like the general homestead exemption or an over-65 exemption.
That means two things can drive your bill up in the same year: the rates themselves going up, as they have in many cities this cycle, and your appraised value going up, which happens independently of any rate decision. When both move in the same direction, as they have for many Texas homeowners this year, the increase compounds rather than simply adding together.
What If You Think Your Bill Is Wrong?
You generally can’t challenge a tax rate directly. Rates are set by elected officials through a public budget process, and your recourse there is showing up to public hearings or voting in local elections. But your appraised value is a different story, and it’s the one piece of the equation you have real standing to challenge.
If your Notice of Appraised Value seems high relative to what similar homes in your area have actually sold for, doesn’t reflect real issues with your property’s condition, or simply hasn’t been reassessed in a way that matches the current market, you have the right to file a protest with your county appraisal district. In Texas, this comes with essentially no downside. The appraisal review board can lower your value or leave it unchanged, but it cannot raise it because you asked for a second look.
Given how many rate increases are stacking up this year, a successful protest that lowers your appraised value can meaningfully offset some of what those rate hikes would otherwise cost you, since every rate gets applied against that same number.
Gathering comparable sales, understanding what your county’s appraisal review board tends to accept as evidence, and meeting filing deadlines takes real time and know-how. If you’d rather not manage that yourself, firms like Texas Tax Protest handle the entire process on your behalf, from filing to representing you at the hearing, and typically work on a contingency basis, so there’s no cost unless your value actually comes down.
