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Texas has no personal income tax and no personal property tax. Tax revenues for the operation of the state, schools and local governments are derived from property tax on real estate including land and improvements (primarily structures) and the lottery. The state established appraisal districts to establish the value of the property for use by all of the different taxing authorities. In the case of San Antonio, the tax district boundaries are the same as our county lines. The Bexar County appraisal district has a web page (www.bcad.org) that provides additional information and access to property assessed values within the county. B.A.D. as it is affectionately called sets the assessed values--not the tax rates--within Bexar County.

Homes have an assessed value roughly equal to their market value. This is averaged over an entire neighborhood so the assessed value is not exactly the market value of a particular home. As values change the Bexar Appraisal District annually reviews values and adjusts accordingly. Property owners are notified of their assessed value for the year and have the opportunity to protest the assigned value. After the property evaluation is made, the individual taxing districts set their tax rate for the year.

Who are the tax districts?

Tax districts include the county, cities, independent school districts, hospital district, community college district, and the flood district. Because homes are located in different tax districts (primarily schools and cities) total tax rates vary from one neighborhood to another. In 2003, total property taxes ranged from about 2.2% of the assessed value to about 3.0%. Thus, the total tax bill on a $100,000 assessed value home could range from about $2,200 per year to about $3,000 per year. If your home has a mortgage on it, the mortgage company normally pays the annual tax bill. Consequently, your mortgage company will be "escrowing" (adding to your house payment) from about $183 to about $250 for the year's tax bill for a $100,000 home. In qualifying for a loan the tax escrow is counted as part of your house payment (see Examples of house payments and Qualifying for a loan).

These property tax figures may come as a shock to folks moving to San Antonio from areas with low property taxes. However, this is largely offset by the fact that we do not have income tax and have lower priced homes when compared to other cities.

The Texas Legislature has been grappling with the property tax issue for a number of years. However, the present system is very entrenched, and changes will not come easily.

©2004, Randy Young, Broker Associate, Noble & Hicks (210) 279-6300