If you were waiting to protest your appraisal, that window has closed for 2026 — the May 15 deadline is behind us. But the part of the year that actually decides what you pay is just beginning. Over the next several weeks, your county, your city, and your school district will each vote on a tax rate, and those votes — not your appraisal — set your bill.

Here’s exactly where the 2026 cycle stands, the relief already working in your favor, and how to show up for the decisions that are still on the table.

Where the 2026 cycle stands right now

Texas property taxes run on a yearly clock. Values are set as of January 1, notices go out in spring, and the protest deadline lands on or about May 15. That part is done. What’s happening now and next:

Now through July: Appraisal Review Boards (ARBs) are hearing the protests that were filed. June and July are the heaviest hearing months.
~July 20: ARBs must finish enough hearings to approve the appraisal records, with no more than a small share of value still under protest.
~July 25: The appraisal roll is certified — the chief appraiser sends final values to every taxing unit so they can start setting rates. (Texas Comptroller — property tax deadlines)
August–September: The main event — truth-in-taxation. Cities, counties, school districts, and special districts calculate their rates, post notices, hold public hearings, and vote to adopt the rate that produces your bill.

In other words: the appraisal fight is over for the year, but the tax-rate fight is wide open — and that’s the one most homeowners never watch.

The relief already working in your favor for 2026

Texas voters approved two homestead exemption increases in November 2025, and they apply to your 2026 taxes (and retroactively to 2025):

Proposition 13 raised the school-district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000. It passed with about 79% of the vote. We break down exactly what Prop 13 means for your bill. (Ballotpedia)
Proposition 11 raised the additional exemption for homeowners 65 and older and those with disabilities from $10,000 to $60,000, passing with about 77%. (Ballotpedia)

Together, that brings the combined homestead exemption for seniors and disabled homeowners to roughly $200,000 of school-taxable value. These came out of the 2025 legislative session as SB 4 and SB 23, with voters ratifying the constitutional amendments. (Texas Tribune)

What to do: pull up your most recent appraisal notice or your account on your county appraisal district’s site and confirm the homestead exemption is actually applied. The relief only reaches your bill if the exemption is on file — and if you’ve never claimed homestead on the home you live in, you can usually still file.

The vote that actually sets your bill

This is the piece the system makes easy to miss. After your taxing units get the certified values, each one calculates two rates that you should know by name (Texas Comptroller — tax rate calculation):

No-new-revenue rate: the rate that would raise the same amount of money from the same properties as last year. If a taxing unit adopts this rate, your taxes from that unit basically hold flat.
Voter-approval rate: the ceiling a taxing unit can adopt before voters get a say. Go above it, and the unit must hold an election to ratify the increase.

Here’s the trap to watch for: an official can announce that the tax rate is going down and still be raising your taxes — because rising values mean a lower rate can pull in more money. The honest yardstick is the no-new-revenue rate. If your city, county, or school district adopts a rate above no-new-revenue, that’s a tax increase, no matter what the headline rate does.

How to watch — and be heard

Truth-in-taxation exists to give you a window. Use it:

Taxing units must post their no-new-revenue and voter-approval rates on the homepage of their websites, and publish notice of the rate hearing. (Texas Comptroller — Truth-in-Taxation)
A governing body must post notice of the meeting at least three business days before it. (Texas Comptroller — hearings)
At the hearing, residents have the right to speak before the rate is adopted. Commissioners courts, city councils, and school boards take these votes in open session in August and September.
If a unit adopts above the voter-approval rate, look for the ratification election on the next uniform election date.

You don’t need a consultant or a lawyer to do this. Watch your local agendas, note when the rate hearing is, and ask one question: are you adopting above the no-new-revenue rate?

The bigger fight in Austin

The 2025 session (the 89th Legislature) didn’t stop at exemptions — it also tightened how appraisal review boards operate. (Bracewell — 89th Legislature tax update) And the politics are only heating up heading into 2027.

Gov. Greg Abbott has said Texans should get to vote on a constitutional amendment to abolish the school-district property tax outright.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has named property-tax cuts a top priority for the 2027 session — his “Operation Double Nickel” would extend senior tax-freeze benefits starting at age 55 — while cautioning that full abolition could force the state sales tax up by as much as 15 cents on the dollar. (Texas Tribune)
The Texas GOP has put complete elimination of property taxes on its priority list — a far bigger swing than the relief passed so far.

Translation for homeowners: more relief is likely on the way, but “eliminate property taxes” and “actually replace the revenue that funds your schools” are two very different conversations. Watch who proposes how the money gets replaced — that’s where the real cost lands.

What to do next

Verify your homestead exemption is applied for 2026 with your county appraisal district.
Find your taxing units’ rate hearings (county, city, school district, and any special districts) for August–September, and put them on your calendar.
Compare the adopted rate to the no-new-revenue rate — that tells you whether it’s truly a cut or a quiet increase.
Look up your county’s current rates on our county pages. Northeast Texas: Hunt County, Hopkins County, Fannin County, Collin County, and Rockwall County. Major metros: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis, and Bexar.

This article is general information about how the Texas property-tax system works, not legal or financial advice. For your specific property, confirm details with your county appraisal district and your local taxing units.

Sources

How to Protest Your Taxes → Find Your County

Texas Property Tax 2026: The Summer Vote That Sets Your Bill