Property tax advice - disabled/over 65

Hey guys, this came up indirectly in another thread a little while ago and I wasn't in a good frame of mind to address it.

If you have a homestead property tax exemption with 'disabled' or 'over 65' freezes, then the homestead can be appraised up to a maximum of 10% over the prior year. BUT, your property taxes have a ceiling for the year you first claimed the 'disabled/over-65' exemption. I know for a fact that in Denton County, all the taxes are frozen - ISD, City, and County. Other counties may not have their county taxes frozen.

So if you know that you're approaching that big birthday, do everything you can to lower your appraisal for that year and lock in the lower property taxes. After that it doesn't matter how high the appraisal goes up (unless the Legislature changes the rules with new laws).

The other big rule that not many folks know about is that you can transfer an existing property tax ceiling for over-65/disabled.



This is a huge help to seniors who decide to sell off a big expensive home and want to move into a smaller, more economical home (say a condo).

You're welcome.

I did not know about the school tax ceiling transfer. Thanks, that has been one concern with selling in town and moving to the lake.
In Houston, my HISD tax has been frozen at $1,077.38 since turning 65. All other property taxes went to zero except Houston Community College until 2016 at which time all other property taxes kicked back in. I called the tax office and was told that once the appraised value of your home exceeds $200,000, the other taxes start phasing back in. My total tax increased 16.73% 2016, 17.46% 2017, 16.51% 2018, -2.25% 2019 and -13.48% 2020

Why 65? Isn't that age discrimination? What if they did it for everyone UNDER 65?

Same reason you get Medicare at 65, The people you voted for made a decision.

So the decisions of the legislators always control? Following then, if the legislators made a decision about LGBTQ, abortion, gun rights (or pick another controversial subject), that would control?

Unless the Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional, yes the people you elect get to make the decisions.

Taxes, on a paid off house..................
Is nothing more, than rent to the state...........
Make no mistake, you own nothing, in Texas...............
Not even your car...................

I seem to know how our government works. But, is it unconstitutional as age discrimination? All other discrimination seems to be illegal - well, except wealth discrimination (e.g. taxes)

^^^ So you woulsd prefer seniors not catch any break on property taxes once they are not working and their income drops.

Thanks Zeek! I'd never heard of the transfer part of that.

No. I'd prefer the rich and middle class pay all of their taxes like they pay every one else's.

It's just a philosophical question - how can decisions be made to benefit one "class" (or exclude a "class") and it be discrimination, yet another decision is made to benefit a different "class" and it is not discrimination? Just trying to wrap my head around that. You can use seniors or any other class.

I think most people look at it as just another age related entitlement like Social Security and Medicare.

Suprised a lawer does not seem to understand seniors should get a tax break. In this case it is really not all that big of a break. In my opinion seniors should be fully exempt from property taxes certainly school taxes. In many cases seniors are forced to sell their house and downsize or move to a state where taxes are not as tied to property values. I am not in that category but for many it is a real problem.

I have never once questioned seniors getting any kind of tax breaks my entier working career IMO to do so seems very petty.

Can’t believe what I am reading...entitlement? Seniors pay into this their entire working career. Add to that only Medicare Part A is free the rest you pay for.

Did a lawer (sic) say they shouldn't get a tax break? Maybe Mr. Hard just can't read, or chooses not to do so? It is merely a question about how classes are treated and how discrimination is determined. I'm almost there, so I am all for it!! I should know better than to try and elicit answers to thinking-type questions to some on this forum.

I'm staying out of the rest of the comments and discussion on this thread, but wanted to respond to this. The tax ceiling and transfer of the tax ceiling are actually huge for seniors who stay in their home, or sell their home and buy a different one.

Client case in point - let's call this a hypothetical, even though it's unlikely that anyone here knows the person - hypothetical person bought a house in 2008 for $90,000. Person turned 65 in 2010 and had the taxes frozen when the house appraised for $105,000 so that homeowner was only paying about $1,700 in property taxes.

Fast forward to this year, and the house is appraising for over $230,000 - the property taxes would be about $4,600 with a normal homestead exemption, but grandma/grandpa is still paying @ $1,700. That's significant for a senior citizen on fixed SSA income.

If the hypothetical old person sold this house and bought a different one, the tax ceiling on the new house would be about 37% of what the taxes otherwise would be.

You are right Zeek in the long run it can/will be a big deal but not really a game changer near-term.