Austin officials once again increased the city's property tax break for senior and disabled homeowners.
The overview
Homestead exemptions allow property owners to lower the share of their primary residence's value that can be taxed by local entities. Texas school districts are now required to offer a set base exemption of $140,000, while other jurisdictions like cities can set a percentage based on a home's appraised value.
Homeowners who are 65 and older or have a disability can see their tax bills decreased further. School districts are now required to provide an additional $60,000 exemption to senior and disabled homeowners, and other jurisdictions can set their own exemption levels.
Continuing a trend from recent years, City Council voted unanimously in May to increase Austin's senior and disabled homestead exemption by more than 6%. The change will effectively maintain tax relief for those homeowners from last year.
“We have certain tools at our disposal to help people age in place, to be able to live here affordably, and this is a very powerful one," council member Ryan Alter said.
More information about exemption eligibility and applications is available through appraisal districts for Travis, Williamson and Hays counties.
By the numbers
Austin's senior and disabled property tax exemption now stands at $204,000 for the 2026 tax year, rising from last year's $192,000 assessed value reduction. The senior and disabled exemption is applied on top of the city's 20% general homestead exemption for all primary residences.
Median annual taxes for senior or disabled homesteads in Austin were expected to rise about $64 without the higher exemption, based on the city's projected fiscal year 2026-27 tax rate that'll be adopted in August. With the approved $12,000 exemption increase, annual median taxes for those homeowners will instead fall by just over $2.
Increasing the senior and disabled exemption affects Austin's overall tax rate, and taxes paid by all other property owners. The new $12,000 increase is projected to reduce citywide taxable property value by $552 million, and will cost the typical non-senior homeowner about $6, based on a $388,000 median taxable home value.
Austin's overall median property tax bill for senior or disabled homeowners is projected to be about $1,154 this year, a slight decrease from last year's $1,156. The median non-senior homeowner tax bill would rise from an estimated $2,074 to $2,234, including the new exemption and projected city tax rate hike.
The context
Austin's practice of increasing the senior and disabled exemption continues as Texas leaders also push to limit local property taxes.
After November's statewide proposition election, both the base homestead exemption and senior and disabled exemptions rose to their current levels. And late last year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposed another $40,000 increase to base homestead exemptions as well as lowering the eligibility age for the greater exemption from 65 to 55. Legislation to meet those aims could be considered in 2027.
