Your 2026 property tax bill is about to land, and yes, it’s going to confuse you. The City of Dallas cut its tax rate for the eleventh year in a row. Dallas County raised its rate for the first time since 2010. A handful of new state laws changed what shows up on your bill. And your school district set its own rate on top of all of it.
So let’s walk through it one line at a time, before the statement shows up in your mailbox.
Two directions, one bill
Start with the city. On September 16, after a marathon budget session, the Dallas City Council adopted a record $5.66 billion budget on a 10-5 vote and trimmed the property tax rate to $0.6978 per $100 of value, down from $0.6988. That’s a tenth of a cent, and it’s the eleventh year in a row Dallas has cut the rate. It also sits below the state’s voter-approval rate of $0.706325. The city estimates the median homeowner will pay about $61 less on the city portion of the bill, but only about $3 of that comes from the rate cut. The rest comes from lower appraised values on a typical Dallas home.
One more detail. Because the city’s overall tax base grew almost 5 percent, the council had to vote on that rate using the legal wording “effectively a 5.4% increase,” since it’s still above the rate that would bring in the same dollars as last year. In other words, a lower rate can still bring in more money, and that one idea explains a lot about your bill.
Now the county. On August 11, the Dallas County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 to adopt $0.248650 per $100, up from $0.215500 last year. That’s a 15.4 percent increase, and the county’s first hike since 2010.
Because the county’s rate is higher than its voter-approval rate, state law sends it to voters. The election is November 3. If voters say no, the rate drops back to $0.224650. The roughly 2.4 cents in question would raise an estimated $103 million, earmarked for homelessness response, housing assistance and mental health treatment, including a proposed multi-year contract with Housing Forward.
In dollars: on the county’s median homestead, taxable value went from $259,385 last year to $268,056 this year, and the county portion of the bill would go from about $559 to about $667 if voters approve the higher rate. If they say no, it would still rise to about $602. Whether the full amount sticks depends on November 3.
The new laws on your 2026 bill
Several new state laws kick in for the 2026 tax year, so this is the first bill that reflects them.
The homestead exemption is now $140,000. Voters approved Proposition 13 in November 2025, raising the school homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 (that’s SB 4). That amount comes straight off your home’s taxable value for school taxes, which are the biggest slice of most bills.
Seniors and disabled homeowners get $200,000 combined. The extra exemption for homeowners 65 and older or disabled went from $10,000 to $60,000, and it stacks with the $140,000. The over-65 tax ceiling is still in place, which caps what you pay once you qualify.
An extra year of school-rate compression. HB 8 adds a one-year cut of $0.0331 per $100 to school districts’ maintenance-and-operations rates. It’s temporary, one year only, but it’s on this bill.
Small businesses got relief too. HB 9 raised the business personal property exemption from $2,500 to $125,000. Dallas County’s chief appraiser says that change removed roughly $4 billion in taxable value from the county’s roughly $640 billion roll. When business property drops off the roll, the tax base shifts, and that’s part of why residential bills feel the pressure they do.
State estimates put the average Texas homeowner’s total savings from the growing homestead exemption at around $1,700 a year, and the 2025 increase to $140,000 is estimated at about $500 of that. Your mileage will vary with your value, your exemptions and your district.
Why your bill can rise when rates fall
This trips up a lot of people. Your bill is your rate times your taxable value, and those two move independently.
Dallas trimmed its rate by a tenth of a cent. But if your home’s appraised value rose, or your homestead cap recalculated, your taxable value probably rose too, and that can easily swamp a small rate cut. Dallas County’s chief appraiser told commissioners in May that 2026 residential market values were roughly flat to up a few percent, but taxable values rose modestly because of homestead-cap and circuit-breaker recalculations. You can see it in the county’s median homestead above, where taxable value climbed about 3 percent. Put simply, even with flat market values, your taxable value can keep climbing as years of capped growth catch up.
So when someone tells you “rates went down,” ask what happened to your taxable value. That’s where your actual bill gets decided.
The school district piece
School taxes are usually the biggest line on your bill, and every district sets its own rate.
Plano ISD adopted $1.03275 per $100 on September 8, down about two-thirds of a cent. But because values grew, the average Plano ISD home’s school bill still goes up about $54, to roughly $3,807. Rate down, bill up anyway.
Richardson ISD adopted $1.1319 per $100 on September 17. That’s actually 2.67 cents higher than last year’s $1.1052. The maintenance-and-operations piece fell to 74.19 cents, the lowest in 42 years, but the bond-debt piece rose 4 cents to 39 cents after voters approved Bond 2025. The $140,000 homestead exemption and the HB 8 compression both apply here.
Your district’s board sets the rate, but your appraisal still does a lot of the work on your final bill.
Here’s the quick-reference version:
| Taxing unit | 2026 rate per $100 | What to know |
| City of Dallas | $0.6978 | Down from $0.6988, the eleventh straight cut |
| Dallas County | $0.248650 | Up from $0.215500. Falls back to $0.224650 if voters say no on November 3 |
| Plano ISD | $1.03275 | Down from $1.03955 |
| Richardson ISD | $1.1319 | Up from $1.1052. Maintenance and operations fell, bond debt rose |
What happens on November 3
Dallas County voters will decide whether the $0.248650 rate stands or drops back to $0.224650. That’s about 2.4 cents per $100 of value, dedicated to homelessness response, housing assistance and mental health treatment. Supporters point out it’s the county’s first rate increase in sixteen years and that it funds crises we can all see. Opponents point to a 15.4 percent jump in a single year. I’m not taking a side. I just want you to know the vote exists, what the money is for, and what happens either way, because your bill depends on the answer.
What This Means If You’re Buying, Selling, or Investing
Buying: Don’t estimate taxes from the seller’s current bill alone. Pull the current rates for the city, county and school district, apply them to the price you’re actually paying, and subtract the exemptions you’ll qualify for, including the new $140,000 school homestead exemption. On a $500,000 purchase in Dallas County, the difference between estimating and calculating can be hundreds of dollars a month. And if you’re buying in Dallas County, know that the November 3 vote could move the county rate after you close.
Selling: Buyers are doing this math, and tax sticker shock kills deals. If your home is homesteaded at a capped taxable value well below market, be ready to explain that the buyer’s bill will be based on the purchase price, not your capped value. A quick, honest tax estimate from your agent beats a surprised buyer at the closing table.
Investing: Underwrite with current rates and no homestead exemptions, because investment properties don’t get them. Keep an eye on the November 3 outcome and the 2027 legislative session: the HB 8 compression is one-year only, and appraisal reform keeps surfacing. In Texas, the tax line is never truly settled, so build margin into your numbers.
The short version
Texas property taxes are a three-layer system, city, county and schools, plus special districts, and 2026 is the year all three layers moved at once: the city trimming, the county raising and asking voters, and the state rewriting exemptions and compression. The homeowners who come out ahead are the ones who read the whole bill instead of the headline rate. Check your exemptions, verify your taxable value, protest if the appraisal looks wrong, and vote on November 3 with the real numbers in front of you.
