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Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti said October property tax bills will include recent property tax relief measures separately approved by state, county, and city office holders, even though voters have yet to officially approve the state relief.
Texas voters still have to vote on Nov. 7 state amendment that includes school property taxes relief, but Uresti is "confident" they will after years of skyrocketing property appraisals, so he is factoring it into the bills now.
"We have seen over the last couple of years a big push to try to reduce taxes for homeowners," he said. "Homeowners are crying out. 'Hey, we need relief,' and luckily people are listening, elected officials are listening."
Uresti said those property tax bills may be marked "provisional," but he said people should just go ahead and pay it as they normally would.
The biggest area of property tax relief will be on school property taxes approved by the Texas Legislature. It boosts the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000. Uresti said those savings would be significant. For example, the owner of a median priced $341,000 home in the North Side School District inside San Antonio City limits could see savings of more than $2,000. The NISD is the largest district in the county.
He said most taxpayers should see school property tax relief of at least $1,000. The state is also forcing property taxes down by boosting direct funding to school districts by billions of dollars, which, Uresti said, the districts must use to bring about relief.
Uresti said to take advantage of the property tax savings, county residents need to claim the homestead property tax exemptions they are entitled to. Residents can go to bcad.org to check the status of their homestead exemptions. Once a resident claims one exemption, any others they are entitled to are automatically applied.
Uresti added that about 100,000 residents may not be taking advantage of homestead exemptions they are entitled to. He said his office tries to reach them through the mail.
"They would really make some significant savings of well over $2,000, so we would really encourage those people to do that," he said of seeking the homestead exemptions.
Savings will be dampened by the nearly 15% average increase in property appraisals this year but that is only half of the increase the Bexar Appraisal District reported in 2022.
Uresti encouraged property taxpayers to protest appraisals suspected of being too high. He pointed out the state property tax relief amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot will also allow voters to choose some members of appraisal district boards, giving them a greater voice on property appraisals. The amendment also calls for a "circuit breaker" to keep a lid on higher property appraisals by limiting the increase in an appraisal to no higher than 20% a year.
Other property tax relief measures to be included in fall property tax bills:
- The City of San Antonio doubles its homestead property tax exemption by 20%. For example, a home in the city valued at $100,000 will see an additional $55 of savings on the city’s portion of their property tax bill.
- The relatively new 20% homestead exemption approved by Bexar County Commissioners for all county taxpayers will also be applied to bills. Before, there was none that applied to all residents. The increase in savings on a $300,000 home at the time of its passage was placed at $174.
- The court last year also passed Commissioner Tommy Calvert's proposal to boost the county hospital tax exemption for those 65 and older from $10,000 to $30,000.
- The commissioners court this year passed a homestead tax exemption of 5% on hospital district property taxes. The county tax office reported the owner of a median priced home worth a little more than $340,000 would save about $48.
