Texas raised its school homestead exemption to $140,000 in 2025: what it means for your tax bill

On November 4, 2025, Texas voters approved Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment that raised the residence homestead exemption for school district property taxes from $100,000 to $140,000 of a home's value. It completed a change the Legislature had passed as Senate Bill 4, which the governor signed on June 16, 2025. The higher amount applies from the tax year that began on January 1, 2025.

The amendment itself was Senate Joint Resolution 2, which passed the Senate 30-0 on February 13, 2025, and the House 143-0 on May 20, 2025. The ballot read: "The constitutional amendment to increase the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district from $100,000 to $140,000." It passed with 79.4% of the vote, according to the Texas Legislative Council's record of constitutional amendments.

S.B. 4 also set out how to handle the 2025 tax year. It told school tax assessors to calculate 2025 taxes on homesteads as if the higher exemption were already in force, where that lowered the bill, and to treat each such bill as provisional until the votes on the amendment were canvassed. The bill also had to show what the tax would have been without the change and how much lower it was. With the amendment approved, those bills became final, and no additional bill was required.

How the exemption has grown

The amount is set in the Texas Constitution, and amendments to the Constitution go to the voters. They raised the exemption four times between 2015 and 2025.

Who qualifies

The exemption is for a residence homestead. The owner must have an ownership interest in the home and use it as their principal residence, and must state that they do not claim a homestead exemption on another home, in Texas or elsewhere. Someone who buys a home after January 1 may get the exemption for the part of the year in which they qualify, if the previous owner did not receive it that year.

Applications go to the appraisal district in the county where the home is located, on Form 50-114, and the general deadline for exemption applications is before May 1. Once the exemption is granted, the owner does not need to reapply every year unless the chief appraiser requires it, the form's instructions say. The chief appraiser of the district decides whether a property qualifies, and the Comptroller's office advises owners to contact their local appraisal district about eligibility.

Other exemptions can apply on top. Under Tax Code Section 11.13(c), school districts must give homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled an additional $60,000 exemption. Cities, counties and other taxing units may also adopt their own homestead exemption of up to 20% of a home's appraised value, with a minimum of $5,000.

What it means for a tax bill

The exemption lowers the value on which school taxes are charged; it does not change the tax rate. In the Comptroller's example, a home appraised at $300,000 with the $140,000 exemption pays school taxes as if it were worth $160,000. Under the old $100,000 exemption, the taxable value for school purposes would have been $200,000, so $40,000 less of the home's value is now taxed by the school district.

What that saves depends on the district's rate, which each district sets. As an illustration only, at a school tax rate of $1 per $100 of value, $40,000 less taxable value would mean $400 less in school taxes a year. The exemption does not lower city, county or other local taxes, which have their own exemptions.

The exemption reduces the property tax revenue school districts collect locally. The Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to provide formulas to protect districts against all or part of that loss, and S.B. 4 sets out additional state aid, including for districts' debt payments.

What applies now

The $140,000 amount is now in Section 11.13(b) of the Texas Tax Code, which the Comptroller's office says requires school districts to provide it on a residence homestead. S.B. 4 applies the change to every tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, so it covers the 2026 tax year too.

In many counties, the local taxing units hire the county tax assessor-collector to collect their property taxes, which come due around October 1, the Comptroller's office says. Taxpayers generally have until January 31 of the following year to pay, and penalty and interest begin on February 1 on most unpaid bills. For local budgets and tax rates, the Comptroller's office directs owners to the school district, county, city or other taxing unit.