Save money on your local property tax Published May 4, 2015 By 2nd Lt. Charles Yi 17th Training Wing Legal Office GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Do you own property in Texas? If so, you may qualify for a break on your local property tax through Residence Homestead Exemption, a frequently overlooked perk offered to property owners in Texas. The only requirement is that you have an ownership interest in the property and used the property as your principal residence on January 1 of the year you are applying for the exemption. But, you must not have claimed the exemption for another residence, whether that residence is in or outside of Texas. When applying for the exemption, you will be required to present a driver's license or state identification card. To prove that the property is your primary residence, the address on the identification provided must correspond to the address of the property for which the exemption is being claimed. Your district chief appraiser, however, may waive this requirement for an active duty U.S. armed services member or the spouse of an active duty service member. How does the exemption work? The exemption removes a percentage or a fixed dollar amount of a property's value from taxation. School districts are required to offer a $15,000 exemption on residence homesteads. The city or county has the option of offering a separate exemption of up to 20 percent of the property's appraised value, but not less than $5,000. Tom Green County and the city of San Angelo, for example, each offer a 20 percent discount on the taxable value of your property. But, they maintain the right of withdrawing the 20 percent option from the exemption program at any time. If you applied for the exemption in Tom Green County and San Angelo today, the savings would look something like this. Let's say your property is valued at $100,000; your school district would exempt $15,000 from the taxable value of the property. Instead of paying $1,240 in school district tax, you would pay $992 in taxes (with the current tax rate of .0.0124). Likewise, Tom Green County and the city of San Angelo would each deduct 20 percent before they levy their taxes (current tax rate of 0.00515 and 0.00776, respectively). Instead of paying a total of $1,291 in city and county taxes, you would pay $1,032.80. With the exemption, you would save a total of $506.20. The benefits carry over to your mortgage, too. Because some mortgages include escrow payments to cover for property taxes, a property tax exemption translates into a lower mortgage. To apply, visit your county appraisal district. Completed applications must be submitted beginning of January 1 and no later than April 30 of the year for which you are requesting an exemption. You can also find more information on various property tax exemptions Texas provides along with application forms at http://window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/exemptions.html.
