Property Tax Resources · Brewster County, Texas
Texas’s largest county by area — Big Bend country, Marfa mystique, and an Alpine real estate market that has surprised long-time locals with its pace of change.
Source: County debt — Texas Bond Review Board, FY2025.
🔴 2026
Brewster County is the largest county in Texas by area, spanning more than 6,000 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert, the Chisos Mountains, and Big Bend National Park. The county seat of Alpine anchors Sul Ross State University and serves as the commercial center for a region that draws artists, retirees, and Marfa visitors in numbers that have noticeably moved property values over the past decade. Rural ranchland makes up the majority of the county’s acreage, with agricultural use valuations applying to many large tracts.
The Brewster County Appraisal District is a small operation serving a geographically enormous county. If your property value increased by $1,000 or more from the prior year, you should have received a reappraisal notice — and you have the right to protest it informally with the district before requesting a formal ARB hearing. If you purchased your property recently, the CAD will almost always reduce the appraised value to your actual purchase price if you provide a closing statement.
Official CAD site — appraisal notices, exemption applications, and district contact information.
Search your property record, view current appraised value, and verify exemption status.
Brewster CAD protest form, procedures, and online protest portal for the current year.
Every taxing entity’s proposed rate, adopted rate, and public hearing schedule for Brewster County.
Enter the date your Notice of Appraised Value was mailed to find your exact filing deadline.
Every taxing unit in Brewster County — the county, Alpine ISD, Sul Ross State University — must publish its proposed rate and hold a public hearing before adopting any rate exceeding the no-new-revenue rate. In a small county, these meetings are accessible. Your voice carries weight.
View Brewster County Tax Rates →Photo: Brewster County Courthouse, Alpine, Texas. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
| Taxing Entity | Type | Rate (2025 adopted) |
|---|---|---|
| Brewster County | County | $0.3700/$100 |
| Alpine ISD | School District | $0.9702/$100 |
| Marathon ISD | School District | $0.7552/$100 |
| San Vicente ISD | School District | $0.6822/$100 |
| Terlingua CSD | School District | $0.6669/$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 brewstercotad.org. Know your Notice of Appraised Value and the deadline printed on it.
File online via the portal, by mail, or in person at Brewster County Appraisal District: 1604 W. Hwy. 90, Alpine, TX 79830. Deadline: May 15, 2026 or 30 days after your notice was mailed.
Recent sales of comparable properties, your closing statement if you purchased recently, photos of condition issues, and ag-use documentation if applicable.
An appraiser at the CAD will review your value and contact you to try to reach an agreed value. This informal step resolves many protests without a formal hearing.
The Appraisal Review Board is independent of the 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, 1836Brewster County is some of the most rugged, most beautiful land in North America — and it has been home and working land to Texas families for generations. The surge of outside interest in the Big Bend and Marfa region has driven appraisals beyond what local landowners can recognize as their reality. The founders built this Republic on the principle that no man’s property shall be taken without consent. That applies at the foot of the Chisos the same as it does anywhere in Texas. 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.
