I bought my property last year in Harris county and just got my tax bill for 2017. The bill went up 40% from last year. In 2013 it shows the property taxes for my property were 50% less. It is for a 45 year old condo and the property values have not gone up much. I never applied for homestead exemption which apparently is required for the 10% max increase rule. It is my fault for not getting the homestead and I just learned you have to protest the taxes earlier this year. So am I out of luck?

Even if I am out of luck for this year, if I protest them next year will they ever go down or would I just be fighting next years increase?

You can protest the market value of the property next year by May 15. Also you should file a late homestead application immediatey if you occupied the property on January 1 2017. The cap is not the only benefit, there are exemption amounts you are entitled to.

As far as the taxes going up 40% and "the value didnt even increase much"...well if thats true its also possible you didnt pay attention to what was actually going on.

Was the prior owner over 65 and occupied the residence? If so when you bought it, that first year you paid their tax (the owner on january 1 is who gets taxed procedurally) which likely included significant discounts. Over 65 residents get much higher homestead exemption amounts and the taxes in some jurisdictions including the ISD will be capped at the amount when they turned 65.

Also, if we're talking about property with only $100k to $150k in market value the not having a homestead exemption in itself could be almost 40%. For a $125,000 home, in the City of Houston and in HISD...the tax would be $3,157.94 without a homestead exemption and $2,237.21 (roughly 30% lower) with a homestead exemption even without the 10% cap coming into play.

I was under the impression there is no cap for tax valuation increase in the first full year you buy a home regardless of homestead exemption?

There isn't. The property will be appraised equal to market value in the first year that you own the property on January 1.

However, with a homestead exemption the value used to compute the taxes you pay to each jurisdiction is lowered.

In my Houston example above, for HISD taxes the value used to calculate what you pay on gets reduced by $25,000 and also by 20%. All of the Harris County juridictions also get a tax break of 20%, and Houston Community College grants a 10% exemption.

To jjxvi's point about filing homestead exemption asap;

If you are in Harris County, HCAD has an iOS app that you can use to submit your homestead exemption immediately, just by using the app to take a picture of your drivers license. Saves time and headache filling out the paperwork and getting it turned in.

Search for "hcad" in the App Store.

JJxvi said:

---

You can protest the market value of the property next year by May 15. Also you should file a late homestead application immediatey if you occupied the property on January 1 2017. The cap is not the only benefit, there are exemption amounts you are entitled to.

As far as the taxes going up 40% and "the value didnt even increase much"...well if thats true its also possible you didnt pay attention to what was actually going on.

Was the prior owner over 65 and occupied the residence? If so when you bought it, that first year you paid their tax (the owner on january 1 is who gets taxed procedurally) which likely included significant discounts. Over 65 residents get much higher homestead exemption amounts and the taxes in some jurisdictions including the ISD will be capped at the amount when they turned 65.

---

This. If you bought from someone who previously received massive discounts they will all hit you in the first year to make up all of that lost ground.