Are Harris County property taxes frozen at age 65?

What is frozen, and what is not?

The Comptroller's exemptions manual (January 2026) says the Tax Code places a ceiling on school district taxes for an owner receiving the age 65 or older residence homestead exemption or the matching exemption for owners who qualify through Social Security Disability Insurance. The baseline is the tax imposed in the first year the owner qualified (11.26(a)). If the owner makes improvements other than repairs, the district may raise the tax that year based on the added value, and that becomes the new ceiling (11.26(b)). For 2024 and later years, subsection (a-10) can lower the ceiling when a district's compressed maximum rates fall. A county, city or junior college district can offer its own ceiling if its governing body adopts it or voters do (11.261); whether a particular unit has adopted one is something to confirm with the appraisal district or that unit. Value, exemptions and every other unit's tax continue to move normally. In plain terms: the ceiling limits one piece of the bill, the school district tax, and only for the owner who qualifies. Everything else, including the county, hospital district, flood control, college and any MUD, is calculated normally unless that unit has adopted its own limit.

How do surviving spouses and moves work, and what does the ceiling look like in dollars?

A surviving spouse age 55 or older keeps the school tax ceiling if the person who died qualified for it and the home remains the survivor's residence (11.26(i)). An owner who buys another home and uses it as a principal residence may transfer the ceiling as a percentage of tax paid, calculated by formula (11.26(g)), which is a calculation to run with HCAD. You must apply through the appraisal district for the age-65 exemption, and the ceiling attaches to it. The exemption amounts themselves are $60,000 mandatory for school districts (11.13(c)) plus any local option of at least $3,000 (11.13(d)), in addition to the $140,000 general homestead exemption. Someone who turns 65 during the year qualifies immediately as if they had qualified on January 1 (11.13(h), 11.42). Suppose a homeowner's first qualifying-year school tax is $1,900. Under the ceiling, the school bill stays at or below $1,900 in later years while values rise, but the county, hospital, flood control, college and MUD lines follow their own rates. The $1,900 figure is an illustration, not a data point. Confirm the ceiling on the HCAD account or the tax office bill each year.

Amounts and rules change every year. For the most current and accurate answer, contact the county office directly: the Harris Central Appraisal District (hcad.org, 713-957-7800) for values, exemptions and protests.

Common follow-up questions

Sources

• Texas Comptroller - Texas Property Tax Exemptions (January 2026)
• Texas Tax Code text (public reproduction of the statute)
• HCAD - Exemption Assistance

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