How to read your appraisal notice

In short

Each spring, the appraisal district may mail you a notice of your property’s value. Homestead notices go out by April 1 or soon after. Others go out by May 1 or soon after.¹ The notice is not a tax bill. It tells you the value your taxes will be based on. Each taxing unit, such as the county, the city and the school district, sets its own rate later in the year.¹ If you think the value is too high, the notice tells you how to protest.¹

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

The 30-second version

• Not a bill: it shows value, not taxes owed.¹
• Check the numbers: last year’s value, this year’s value, and your exemptions.¹
• Check your exemptions: if one was dropped or cut, the notice must say so.¹
• Protest deadline: May 15, or 30 days after the notice was mailed, whichever is later.²

What the notice must show

Texas law lists what goes on the notice.¹ In plain words:

Part of the notice	What it means for you
List of taxing units	Every government that taxes this property, such as the county, city, school district and any emergency services district.
Last year’s appraised value	The starting point.
Last year’s taxable value for each unit	Value after exemptions. It can differ by unit, because each offers different exemptions.
This year’s appraised value	The new number. This is what you can protest.
Exemptions, this year and last	Homestead, over-65, disability and others. If one was canceled or reduced, the notice must say how much.
Circuit breaker line (2024–2026 only)	Whether a non-homestead property gets the 20% cap. This line goes away in 2027.1 See twenty percent cap ends 2027.
Land and buildings, listed separately	For real property, the market value of the land and of the buildings.1
Five-year change (real property)	Percent change in value compared with five years earlier.1
”The Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your local taxes.”	Required wording. Your local officials set rates.1
How and when to protest	Deadlines, the informal meeting, and when the review board starts hearings. A protest form must come with it.1

Market value, appraised value, taxable value

Your notice may show more than one value. Here is what each means.

Value	What it is
Market value	What the property would likely sell for on January 1.3
Appraised value	For a homestead, this can be lower than market value. The yearly rise is capped at 10%, plus anything new you built.4
Taxable value	Appraised value minus your exemptions. Each taxing unit can have a different one.1

The 10% homestead cap, in plain words:

• It starts the year after your first year with a homestead exemption.⁴
• It limits the appraised value, not the market value. The district still records both.⁴
• A new pool or room addition is added on top of the cap. Repairs and upkeep are not.⁴
• It ends when the home is no longer your homestead, for example after a sale.⁴

So your market value can jump while your appraised value rises less. In later years, the appraised value can keep rising until it catches up, even if the market is flat.⁴

Which value can you protest? You can protest the value or any action the district took on your property, such as a dropped exemption.² See how to protest your appraisal.

How many notices go out

The appraisal district mails close to 300,000 value notices a year. The number of protests has grown faster than the number of notices.⁵

Year	Notices mailed	Protests filed	Protests per 100 notices (our math)
2022	272,015	80,512	29.6
2023	287,755	79,560	27.6
2024	294,958	86,190	29.2
2025	297,248	106,418	35.8
2026	291,925	113,238	38.8

Protests per 100 notices is a rough guide, not the share of owners who protest. The district reports both counts for all property, not just homes.⁵⁶

What to do with it

1. Check the facts. Square feet, rooms, pool, lot size. Errors are the easiest thing to fix.
2. Check your exemptions. Missing a homestead exemption is costly. See exemptions you may be missing.
3. Compare. Look at similar homes nearby. If your value seems high, you can protest. See how to protest your appraisal.
4. Then wait for rates. Your bill depends on value times each unit’s rate. Rates are set in late summer and fall. See how your property tax bill works.

The other side (counterweight)

• More protests per notice does not by itself mean values are wrong. In 2026, about 4 in 5 protests were filed by paid tax agents (92,192 of 113,238).⁵ See how to protest your appraisal.
• A higher value does not always mean a much higher bill. If values rise across the county, taxing units must publish a “no-new-revenue” rate. That is the rate that would raise about the same money from the same properties as last year. Whether they adopt it is up to them. See how your property tax bill works.
• The cap protects people who stay in their homes. The cap ends when the home changes hands. A new owner’s cap does not start until the year after they qualify. So two similar homes side by side can have quite different appraised values.⁴
• Not getting a notice does not cancel the appraisal or the tax, and it does not move the homestead exemption deadline.¹ The district must send a notice mainly when your value went up, the property is new on the roll, or an exemption was cut. It must also post notices it sends on its website.¹ So check your value online each spring.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 4, 2026: Added how many notices the district mails each year and how that compares with protests.
• Nov. 4, 2026: Added a section on market, appraised and taxable value and the homestead cap.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What we still don’t know

• How many notices go to homes and how many go to other property. The district reports one total. See how to protest your appraisal.

Questions to ask

• How many homes in the county have an appraised value held below market value by the homestead cap?
• How does the appraisal district decide which properties get a notice in a year?
• Where does the appraisal district explain each line of the notice?

Footnotes

1. Texas Tax Code §25.19 (a), (b), (b-1), (d), (f), (j) and (o): dates, required contents, the Legislature statement, land/building split, five-year change, protest form, effect of not receiving a notice. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/GetStatute.aspx?Code=TX&Value=25.19 (read 2026-11-02 UTC) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

2. Texas Comptroller, “Appraisal Protests and Appeals” (protest deadline). https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/protests/ ↩ ↩²

3. Texas Tax Code §23.01(a): property is appraised at market value as of January 1. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.23.htm ↩

4. Texas Tax Code §23.23(a)–(c), (e): homestead appraised value may rise at most 10% a year plus new improvements; market value still recorded; starts the year after the owner first qualifies; ends when no owner or spouse qualifies. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.23.htm ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. Williamson Central Appraisal District, 2026 Annual Report, “General Appeal Statistics” (notices mailed and total protests, 2022–2026). https://www.wcad.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-Annual-Report.pdf (saved copy, read Nov. 2026) ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Our math: protests ÷ notices × 100. 2022: 80,512 ÷ 272,015 = 29.6. 2023: 79,560 ÷ 287,755 = 27.6. 2024: 86,190 ÷ 294,958 = 29.2. 2025: 106,418 ÷ 297,248 = 35.8. 2026: 113,238 ÷ 291,925 = 38.8. ↩