Property taxes for military homebuyers in San Antonio.

How do Texas property taxes affect a monthly mortgage payment?

Property taxes are collected by the lender through the escrow account and paid with the mortgage each month, alongside homeowner insurance. The monthly tax line is roughly the annual tax bill divided by twelve, so the bill does double duty: it funds county, city, school district, and special district services, and it is a fixed monthly cost in the budget. In a state with no income tax, the property tax bill is one of the largest recurring costs a homeowner carries, which is why Tami Price budgets the total monthly payment, including taxes, before buyers compare homes.

Why do tax rates vary so much from one address to the next?

No single tax rate covers Texas. Each property sits inside a county, a city or unincorporated area, a school district, and often one or more special districts, and each of those entities sets its own rate. Move a few miles, cross a county line, or land inside a municipal utility district, and the effective rate changes. That is why the tax bill, and the monthly payment that includes it, is address specific rather than neighborhood or city specific. The market report and neighborhood guides describe areas in general terms; the exact numbers come from the appraisal district and the tax office for the specific address.

Which counties serve the JBSA area?

Housing options around Joint Base San Antonio span five counties. Each county has its own appraisal district, which sets values, applies exemptions, and answers questions about an individual property. Homebuyers should pull the tax history for a specific address from the district that serves it:

What is a homestead exemption, and how do you get one?

A homestead exemption removes a set amount of value from taxation on a primary residence. For Texas school district taxes, the homestead exemption is $140,000 of appraised value for the 2026 tax year, after the exemption increase approved by Texas voters in November 2025. Some counties and cities add their own exemptions on top; Bexar County and Comal County, for example, each provide a 20 percent county-level exemption, and other local governments vary. The application is filed with the county appraisal district, normally between January 1 and April 30 of the tax year, and it applies automatically to taxes levied after the filing. Service members who keep Texas as their home of record and occupy the home should confirm how the filing rules apply to their situation.

Texas also caps how much the taxable value of a residence homestead can rise in a single year: no more than 10 percent per year once the homestead exemption is in place. The cap resets when ownership changes, which matters for a buyer stepping into a home whose value has been rising faster than the cap.

What property tax exemptions are available to disabled veterans?

Texas exempts a portion of the appraised value of a residence homestead for qualifying disabled veterans, based on the VA disability rating. The exemption amounts are set by Texas law:

Veterans age 65 or older with at least a 10 percent disability rating may qualify for an additional residence homestead exemption of up to $12,000 on the appraised value.

Veterans rated 100 percent disabled, including individual unemployability, are exempt from all property taxes on their residence homestead. A surviving spouse or surviving child may claim the remaining amount of the deceased veteran's exemption in some situations. Filing is done through the county appraisal district with the VA rating letter and identification, and the filing window runs from January 1 through April 30, with late filings allowed in limited circumstances. The Texas General Land Office and the county appraisal districts publish the current rules.

What are MUD and PID assessments?

Some new communities add extra layers to the tax bill. A Municipal Utility District (MUD) is a special district that provides water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure, commonly in newer subdivisions, and repays its bonds through property taxes on homes inside the district. A Public Improvement District (PID) is a city-created district that funds specific improvements such as roads, sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping, paid through an assessment on properties in the district. Both add a line item to the annual cost of ownership that a buyer comparing two similar-priced homes in different communities will not see on the purchase price. The sellers' disclosure and the county appraisal district records show whether a property sits in a MUD or PID, and the rate, assessment, and any sunset date should be reviewed before an offer.

What should new construction buyers know about property taxes?

A brand-new home is typically taxed on the appraised value the county sets, and in the first year that value can trail the purchase price. The appraisal district may have valued the lot during construction and only adds the completed house to the roll at the next valuation cycle. The result is that year one can look low and year two can step up to the value the buyer actually paid, and the escrow payment adjusts to catch up. Buyers of new construction should also ask where the home sits on the county, city, school, MUD, and PID layers, because all of them shape the eventual bill. None of this is a reason to avoid new construction; it is a reason to budget the total monthly cost from the second-year number, not the first-year estimate.

Why can first-year escrow estimates on new construction differ from the eventual tax bill?

Lenders build the escrow payment from the tax data available at closing. On a new home, that data is often based on the lot and improvements as they stood on the tax roll, which may not reflect the completed house. Once the appraisal district assigns the improved value and the school district, city, and special districts levy against it, the annual bill can rise and the monthly escrow is recalculated to cover the higher amount plus any shortfall. Tami Price advises new construction buyers to compare the full monthly payment at the second-year tax estimate, and to ask the lender what tax figures were used in the escrow calculation, so the budget does not rest on a one-time low estimate.

Why can two homes at similar prices have very different monthly payments?

The purchase price is the same, but the tax line is not set by price alone. Take two homes at the same price in different parts of the metro: one sits in a city and county with lower rates and no special district, the other carries a higher school rate, a MUD tax, and a PID assessment. The second home can carry a meaningfully larger monthly escrow payment even though the mortgage payment on the loan itself is nearly identical. Add in whether a homestead or disabled veteran exemption is on file, and two buyers of two similar-priced homes can see very different totals. That is why Tami works up the full monthly payment for each property, using the address-specific tax data, before clients compare homes across areas.