Which tax office does what (DRAFT – not published)

In short

Four different groups handle your property tax. The appraisal district sets your value. The review board hears protests. Each taxing unit sets its rate. The county tax office sends the bill and collects.¹² Call the right one and you save time.

The 30-second version

• Value too high or exemption missing? Call the appraisal district (WCAD).³
• Lost a protest? The review board (ARB) decided it. Next steps are on after the arb appeals.⁴
• Rate too high? Speak at your city, county or school board’s rate hearing in August or September.¹
• Bill, payment plan or receipt? Call the county tax office.²

Who does what

Group	What it does	What it does not do
Appraisal district (WCAD)	Sets market value; grants exemptions3	Set rates or collect tax
Appraisal Review Board (ARB)	Hears value protests; its members are not WCAD staff4	Change tax rates
Taxing units (county, city, school district, college, MUDs)	Each sets its own rate and budget1	Set your value
County tax office	Sends one combined bill and collects for many units2	Set value or rates

The law behind it

• The county tax office is in the Texas Constitution. Voters elect the tax assessor-collector to a 4-year term.⁵ It collects for the county, and for other units when their law, their board or a contract says so. It may charge them no more than its real cost.⁶
• Your value is what your home would sell for on Jan. 1. A homestead’s taxable value can rise no more than 10% a year, plus new additions.⁷
• Key dates in the law: value notices by about April 1 for homesteads; protests by May 15 or 30 days after the notice; values to each unit by about Aug. 1; bills by about Oct. 1; taxes due by Jan. 31.⁸
• Why four groups? Since 1982, one appraisal district in each county sets values for every unit. The tax office kept the old name, “assessor,” but today it mostly applies values and rates to make the bill.⁹

The other side

• One bill is simpler, but it hides who raised your tax. Read each line on the bill.
• Splitting jobs keeps value-setting (the appraisal district) apart from rate-setting (each taxing unit). It also means more places to call.

Questions to ask

• Where does each office post which questions it handles?
• How do the appraisal district and the tax office pass changes to each other?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We re-checked every figure and date against our sources.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We reworded a point under The other side to describe what each office does instead of why.

What you can do next

• See dates on property tax calendar. Read about the county office on tax assessor collector. New words: glossary.

Your property tax, step by step

1. Start: how your bill works → 2. Key dates → 3. Exemptions → 4. Protest your value → 5. Paying and getting help → 6. Appeals after the ARB → 7. Who does what → 8. Rate limits

Short reference pages: Where your tax bill goes · A 2026 bill, worked out · Estimated-tax website · Exemption checklist · Glossary

Footnotes

1. Texas Comptroller, “Truth-in-Taxation.” https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/truth-in-taxation/ (saved copy, retrieved Nov 2026) ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Texas Comptroller, “Property Tax Assistance – taxpayer FAQs” (assessor-collector role). https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/ Also the county tax office page, which says it does not set values or rates: https://www.wilcotx.gov/propertytax (checked 2026-11-01). ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Williamson Central Appraisal District, FAQ. https://www.wcad.org/ ↩ ↩²

4. Texas Comptroller, “Property Tax Protests and Appeals.” https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/protests/ (saved copy, retrieved Nov 2026) ↩ ↩²

5. Texas Constitution art. VIII, §14. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.8/CN.8.14.htm ↩

6. Texas Tax Code §§6.22(c), 6.23(a), 6.27(b). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.6.htm ↩

7. Texas Tax Code §§23.01(a), 23.23(a). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.23.htm ↩

8. Texas Tax Code §§25.19(a), 41.44(a)(1), 26.04(b), 31.01(a), 31.02. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.25.htm 2025 check: the Texas Comptroller’s summary of the 89th Legislature’s property tax laws (July 2025) lists changes to §§26.04, 31.01 and 31.02. They add form rules and temporary 2025 provisional-bill rules tied to that year’s homestead exemption vote. They do not change the dates above. No other cited section is listed, and the special-session bills we checked that changed these sections did not pass. https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-669.pdf 2027 note: from Jan. 1, 2027, the value notice no longer has to say whether the 20% cap on non-homestead property (the “circuit breaker”) applies, because that cap ends after the 2026 tax year. This change was passed in 2023 (Senate Bill 2, second called session), not in 2025. A 2025 bill to make the cap permanent needed a constitutional amendment that was not on the November 2025 ballot. The April 1 and May 1 dates do not change. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/GetStatute.aspx?Code=TX&Value=25.19 ↩

9. Texas Tax Code ch. 6 (appraisal districts; Acts 1979, ch. 841, effective Jan. 1, 1982). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.6.htm ↩