Property Tax Resources · Ellis County, Texas
Ellis County
Property Taxes
One of the fastest-growing counties in Texas — DFW spillover growth is pushing appraisals up fast. Your protest rights are the only check on that pressure.
Property Tax Resources · Ellis County, Texas
One of the fastest-growing counties in Texas — DFW spillover growth is pushing appraisals up fast. Your protest rights are the only check on that pressure.
Source: County debt — Texas Bond Review Board, FY2025.
Population: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate. Effective tax rate: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2024. Avg annual bill: calculated from Census ACS median home value. Protest data: Texas Comptroller, 2024 Appraisal District Operations Survey.com 2024 (74% informal / 73% ARB).
🔴 2026 Protest Deadline: May 15, 2026 — or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value is mailed, whichever is later. Miss this date and you waive your right to protest.
Ellis County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas. Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ennis, Red Oak — communities that were rural just a decade ago are now absorbing waves of DFW suburban growth. The Ellis Central Appraisal District uses mass-appraisal models that pull existing home values toward new-construction prices, without accounting for the age, condition, and lot differences that make those comparisons inaccurate. Long-time residents whose land has been in the family for generations are receiving tax bills that bear no relationship to local economic reality.
In 2024, nearly 22,000 protests were filed in Ellis County — and 74% of those resolved through the informal process received a value reduction (Texas Comptroller, 2024 Appraisal District Operations Survey). The median home value is approaching $418,000, and at an effective rate near 2%, every dollar of overassessment costs you real money every year you let it stand. The tools below will get you started.
Official CAD site — appraisal notices, exemption applications, and district contact information.
Search your property record, view your current appraised value, and verify exemption status.
Ellis CAD protest procedures, filing options, and deadline information for the current protest period.
Every taxing entity’s proposed rate, adopted rate, and public hearing schedule for Ellis County.
Enter the date your Notice of Appraised Value was mailed to find your exact filing deadline.
Every taxing unit in Ellis County — your school district, city, county — must publish its proposed rate and hold a public hearing before adopting any rate exceeding the no-new-revenue rate. These meetings are open. Your voice is on the record.
View Ellis County Tax Rates →Photo: Ellis County Courthouse, Waxahachie, Texas. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
| Taxing Entity | Type | Rate (2025 adopted) |
|---|---|---|
| Ellis County | County | $0.2740/$100 |
| Avalon ISD | School District | $0.8215/$100 |
| Ennis ISD | School District | $1.2152/$100 |
| Ferris ISD | School District | $1.2308/$100 |
| Frost ISD | School District | $1.2197/$100 |
| Italy ISD | School District | $1.0737/$100 |
| Maypearl ISD | School District | $0.9698/$100 |
| Midlothian ISD | School District | $1.0708/$100 |
| Milford ISD | School District | $1.0506/$100 |
| Palmer ISD | School District | $1.0502/$100 |
| Red Oak ISD | School District | $1.0633/$100 |
| Waxahachie ISD | School District | $1.1681/$100 |
2025 adopted rates per Texas Comptroller Tax Rates & Levies (source). City, MUD, college and other special-district rates may also apply depending on your parcel. Your total depends on which districts your property falls in — verify current rates at your county appraisal district.
What your Notice means and exactly what to do — and by when — after it arrives.
How the Texas homestead exemption lowers your taxable value, including recent changes.
When a property tax consultant is worth it for protesting your appraisal.
Lesser-known special valuations that can cut the taxable value of qualifying land.
The state office that oversees appraisal districts and protects taxpayers.
Who sets your county’s values and why that role matters to your bill.
Search your account at elliscad.com. Know your Notice of Appraised Value and the deadline printed on it.
File online, by mail, or in person at Ellis CAD: 400 Ferris Ave., Waxahachie, TX 75165. Deadline: May 15, 2026 or 30 days after your notice was mailed.
Recent sales of comparable homes, your purchase price, photos of condition issues, and repair estimates strengthen your case. New-construction comps used by ECAD are often the weakest point to attack.
Before your ARB hearing, a CAD appraiser may offer to settle. Review any offer carefully — you can accept or proceed to the formal hearing.
The Appraisal Review Board is independent of Ellis CAD. Present your evidence clearly and concisely. Most hearings run 15–30 minutes.
Disagree with the ARB ruling? You may appeal to district court, binding arbitration, or SOAH (properties over $1 million).
“No person’s particular services shall be demanded, nor property taken or applied to public use, unless by the consent of himself or his representative, without just compensation being made therefor.”
— Section 13, Declaration of Rights, Republic of Texas, 1836Ellis County is growing fast — but that growth serves developers and taxing entities far more than it serves the families who have owned land here for generations. When ECAD applies new-construction valuations to 20-year-old homes in Waxahachie or Midlothian, it is not accurately appraising your property. It is funding budgets on your back. The founders were explicit: property is not to be taken without consent and just compensation. Show up. Look up your value. File your protest. Attend the hearings. The people setting these rates are your neighbors. They work for you — as long as you hold them to it.
