These days we are all looking for ways to save money whether it be on our grocery bill or our real estate tax bill.  And the easiest way I know to save money on your Spring Texas real estate taxes is by filing for the general homestead exemption.

And it is as easy as cutting coupons out of the Sunday newspaper.  The big advantage filing for the homestead exemption is …. you only have to file for it once to receive the money saving benefit of it year after year.

But beware and do not fall for the marketing scam that is prevalent during the filing season. Because you do not have to pay a filing fee of $35 to $50 in order to receive a general homestead exemption on your home.  You can file for the homestead exemption yourself. The form is only a single page and the instructions are easily understandable. And if you need help filing out the form, give us a call at 281.300.3141 or 281.804.8626 and we will be happy to help you for free.  

What do you have to do to qualify for the general homestead exemption?

In order to qualify for the homestead exemption, you have to meet three simple requirements:  1) You must own your home on January 1st of the tax year and 2) You must use the home as your primary residence and 3) you or your spouse have not claimed a general homestead exemption on another home.

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Its that time of the year, again. The time of year I dread going to my mailbox because I know any day now lurking inside I will find the bills for my Spring Texas Property Taxes.

In Spring Texas, we have three taxing entities the MUD (Muncipal Utility District), the school district which can either be Conroe, Klein, or Spring, and the County which can either be Harris or Montgomery.

In my case, my MUD is MUD #104, the school district is Klein school district, and the county is Harris County. Each taxing authority sends out its own property tax bill. Receiving three separate bills instead of one combined property tax bill makes me feel like my property taxes are a just a wee bit smaller.

So far I have received my 2008 property tax bill from MUD #104 and the Klein school district. The Harris County property tax bill has not found its way to my mailbox yet.

Since I was an Accountant before I was ever a Realtor, I am a stickler for the details. So when my Spring Texas property tax bills arrive, I carefully review each bill for the following:

• Does the taxable amount/appraised value equal the amount the HCAD (Harris County Appraisal District) assessor and I agreed was the taxable value of my home.

• Do the bills reflect the homestead exemption that I qualified for and applied for?  My MUD does not offer a homestead exemption. But the Klein school district offers a homestead exemption of $15,000 off the assessed value. While Harris County offers a homestead exemption of 20% off the assessed value of my home.

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There is no denying that our real estate taxes in Spring Texas are higher than in other states. But you shouldn’t ONLY take into consideration real estate taxes when considering whether its affordable to live in Spring Texas.  

For 18 consecutive years the nonpartisan Tax Foundation has published an estimate of the combined state-local burden of each of the 50 states. And they have just released the State and Local tax burden estimates for 2008 and our big state of Texas came in as the 8th lowest state in state-local tax burden.  And this rating of being in the top 10 lowest states in state-local tax burden is not a flux. We have enjoyed this ranking for the last four years. 

We, Texans, pay 8.4 percent of our income in state and local taxes, compared to New Jersey at 11.8 percent, New York at 11.7 percent, Connecticut at 11.1 percent and Maryland at 10.8 percent. What’s the national average? Read More »

The residents of Spring Texas have spoken and what they have said is “We want quality education”. On May 10th, the residents of Klein School District voted on a $647 million school bond. The bond PASSED with 52% of the votes. Every vote counts as the bond passed by a narrow margin of only 300 votes. 

The passing of the bond translates into Spring Texas real estate taxes increasing by 20 cents over the next four years. Twenty cents doesn’t sound like much. But with the median price of Spring Texas homes being $150,000, that mere 20 cents turns into a $300 dollar annual increase in real estate taxes.

Read also: Texas Property Taxes why are they so HIGH?

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One of the bad things about growth is that sooner or later we are going to have to pay for its impact on our infrastructure. And pay we do, usually in the form of increased taxes. Over the last four years, our Klein school district has experienced growth. Growth of more than 16% or 6,000 students. Thus the need for another school bond election. If it passes, its projected to increase real estate taxes for Spring Texas homeowners by $0.20.

If you are like thinking, it wasn’t that long ago since Klein school district had their last bond election. You are right. Their last bond election was in 2004 for $224 million. It was projected to increase real estate taxes by $0.26 but luckily only reached $0.22. If you are not familiar with the components of our Texas property taxes, read Texas Property Taxes Why are they so HIGH?

What exactly is a school bond and why do we need it?  Read More »

In previous years, we typically would receive the notice of appraisal value of our homes in April. We would have until May 31st or 30 days after the date the appraisal district sent the notice whichever is later to protest the value. But for 2008, the dates have changed.

You now have until April 30th or 30 days after the date the appraisal district sent the notice whichever is later to protest. The new protest deadlines are due to the passing of a new law that changed the dates. Read More »

If you ask Spring Texas Realtors how much is the Homestead Exemption for homes in Spring Texas, the majority of them will tell you that its 20%. The sad part is that this is just NOT True. The TRUTH is it depends.

Now I know that sounds like a vague answer, but let me further explain. In Spring TX, your home will be taxed by three taxing entities. They are the County which will be Harris or Montgomery, the school district which will be Conroe, Klein, or Spring and the Municipal Utility District (MUD).  Read More »

One of the easiest ways to Reduce your Spring Texas property taxes is by filing for your homestead exemption.  The homestead exemption removes part of the assessed value of your property from taxation and thus lowers your taxes. Read More »

In a comparison with other school districts in the greater Houston Texas metropolitan area, Klein school district has the second lowest property tax rate. Klein school district is located in Spring Texas. The Klein school district property tax rate for 2007 is $1.26 per $100 valuation.  Read More »