The state requires a $40,000 mandatory homestead exemption on school district taxes, and the various other taxing entities — including the city, county and Bexar County Hospital District — offer different exemptions for their portions of the tax bill. Additionally, homeowners who are disabled or 65 years of age or older may qualify for other special exemptions.
Once a homestead exemption application is approved, however, the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector’s office automatically applies all the exemptions a homeowner qualifies for to the property tax bill. The application remains on file until the home is sold or transferred to a different owner.
Property tax bills for the 2023 tax year will be mailed out October 1, based on property valuations already received by homeowners.
The deadline to apply for a homestead exemption for 2023 property taxes was technically in April, but Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti said those who qualify should continue to submit their applications anyway.
There’s still a chance the exemption could be applied to this year’s bill, Uresti said.
Even if it isn’t, people whose applications indicate they qualified for exemptions in 2023, 2022 or 2021 will receive a refund check for the savings they missed.
As of February 2023, Uresti estimates there are more than 95,000 properties in Bexar County that qualify for but don’t have a homestead exemption on file.
“We still have a lot of families that don’t have the residential exemption. … I can’t tell you how that just breaks my heart,” Uresti said.
To get the basic homestead exemption, homeowners need to fill out this form and submit it to the Bexar County Appraisal District.
It can be downloaded and submitted via email, or printed and mailed in or submitted in person. To qualify, the address on the homestead application must match the address on the homeowner’s driver’s license or Texas ID.
Uresti said he’s urging potential applicants to call the tax assessor-collector’s office or come by in person if they need help filling out the application form.
“As homestead exemptions are increasing in value there are companies going house to house, especially to the elderly, and charging them [part of their savings] to fill out the application,” Uresti said. “We just want to remind people that they don’t have to pay for it — they can come to our office or to the [Bexar County] Appraisal District and we will help them to file for that homestead exemption.”
The city and county’s focus on homestead exemptions is relatively new compared to other major Texas metropolitan areas, which maxed theirs out years ago.
They come as home values in Bexar County continue to increase rapidly, causing tax bills to skyrocket.
Among homes that qualify for the exemption, Uresti said appraisal values rose by an average of roughly 10% in the past year.
On Thursday, City Council members expressed concern about having exhausted their limited levers to direct property tax relief at those who need it most.
The state dictates the types of exemptions taxing entities can create and limits how high they can be set. Efforts to expand the list to include things like a special exemption for homes that have been in a family for generations failed to gain support in the Texas Legislature this year.
“We’re going to be able to do very, very little after this,” said Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2).
“This comes down to the way that homes are appraised and this comes down to legislation and to actions that are going to happen have to happen elsewhere,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “We have a responsibility to guide the conversation.”
Council still plans to reduce the city’s property tax rate for 2023 bills, though not enough to offset rising property valuations. The state caps the amount of revenue a city can collect from property taxes at 3.5% greater than the previous year, not including new construction.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city must balance the burden of rising property taxes with the growing city’s many needs, like increasing law enforcement and addressing affordable housing.
“We have limited means to deliver those services,” Nirenberg said. “So we’ve had a very sober conversation over these last few years about how is the best way to balance those two.”
State lawmakers are still deadlocked over their own ideas for property tax relief, but Uresti said the Senate’s version would save homeowners an average of about $500 in school district taxes. Those savings also rely on having a homestead exemption application on file with the county.
Not including savings the state is expected to mandate, the 2023 city and county exemptions for a house assessed at $300,000 would be worth about $1,033, Uresti said. That’s the difference between a property tax bill of roughly $7,426, and a reduced bill of roughly $6,393.
San Antonio provides an additional exemption for people aged 65 and older and people who are fully disabled — allowing them to take another $85,000 off of their valuation — if they’ve applied for and received a homestead exemption.
The county hospital district also offers a special exemption for people 65 and older, who can take an additional $30,000 off their valuation for that portion of their property tax bill.
“People have to get the residential homestead exemption first and foremost, and then the other exemptions will fall into place,” Uresti said.
“Without [applying for the homestead exemption], you’re not going to be entitled to most of these benefits.”
This article has been updated to clarify that homeowners should submit their homestead exemption application form to the Bexar County Appraisal District, not the county tax office.
