On August 12, the Austin City Council adopted a property tax rate of $0.579948 per $100 of taxable value for fiscal year 2026-27, up from $0.524017 the year before. The vote was 8-2. Today, October 1, is the first day Texas law lets county tax offices start mailing the bills that rate feeds into. If you are closing on an Austin home this fall or winter, that bill will probably arrive after you have the keys.
This piece walks through what changed, what the calendar looks like, and how a closing in the middle of the year splits a bill that nobody has received yet.
What the city adopted
The City of Austin's tax rate page lists the new rate, the prior one, the 8-2 vote (Mayor Kirk Watson and Council Member Marc Duchen opposed) and the revenue effect: about $89.3 million more than last year's budget, a 7.4 percent increase, of which $19,155,677 comes from properties newly added to the tax roll. The city's budget announcement puts the typical household effect at $285.84 a year, made up of $113.76 in property tax and $172.08 in higher utility rates and fees.
The rate itself moved 10.7 percent. The city's typical-bill figure is smaller because it describes one median homestead after exemptions, not every taxable value. Yours scales with the number on your notice.
| Taxable value | At $0.524017 | At $0.579948 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $1,572.05 | $1,739.84 | +$167.79 |
| $450,000 | $2,358.08 | $2,609.77 | +$251.69 |
| $600,000 | $3,144.10 | $3,479.69 | +$335.59 |
Taxable value is the figure after exemptions, not the market value. The city is one line on a Travis County bill. Travis County, the school district, Austin Community College, Central Health and any special district each levy their own rate on the same bill, so this table is a slice, not a total. The county's page notes it adopted a rate that raises more maintenance and operations tax than last year's; the county's truth-in-taxation page carries the full table.
The calendar that governs the bill
The Travis County Tax Office's important dates page sets the schedule:
- October 1: state law allows the office to begin mailing bills.
- January 31: last day to pay without penalty and interest.
- February 1: unpaid taxes are delinquent. The office's own January notice warns of 7 percent in penalties and interest once February begins, and the page says the penalty climbs to 12 percent on July 1.
- May 15: last day to file a protest with the Travis Central Appraisal District.
Homestead owners can also enroll in a quarterly installment option by sending a letter of intent to the tax office by the end of February. The page lists the payments as January 31, March 31, May 31 and July 31.
Why the closing date matters
Texas property taxes are billed in arrears. A bill that arrives in October covers the calendar year that is almost over, not the year ahead. Under Tax Code section 32.01, a tax lien attaches to a property every January 1 to secure the taxes ultimately imposed for that year. So the home you buy in November carries the entire 2026 bill, including the months the seller lived there. The question is only who pays for which months.
The answer is settled at closing by proration. The Travis County Tax Office's FAQ addresses the follow-up that confuses people most: an owner who "paid the taxes at closing" and then gets a delinquent bill. It says to check the closing documents and contact the title company, and that in many cases the new owner gets a credit from the seller and becomes responsible for paying the whole bill. It also says Texas law makes the owner responsible for paying by the deadline even if the bill never arrives.
A worked example
These numbers are an illustration, not an estimate for any home. Suppose a house closes on November 15, 2026, and the total 2026 bill from all taxing units turns out to be $9,000.
| Who | Days in 2026 | Share of year | Share of $9,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller | 318 | 87.1% | $7,841 |
| Buyer | 47 | 12.9% | $1,159 |
Because the bill has not been issued when you close, the title company usually works from an estimate, often the prior year's bill or the current rate applied to the appraisal district's value. Your settlement statement will show the seller's credit to the buyer. Then the buyer pays the actual bill, likely by January 31. If the real bill comes in higher than the estimate, the difference lands on the person holding the bill, which is why a rate change like this year's is worth raising before closing. The exact day count and how any shortfall is handled follow the contract. The TREC one-to-four family resale contract (form 20-19, effective July 1, 2026) governs most resale transactions.
What our own records add
The city says $19.2 million of its new revenue comes from property added to the roll, which is new construction. Our research database tracks the front of that pipeline. Austin Local Team analysis of City of Austin site plan records, last synced September 30, 2026, shows 134 site plan applications filed between July 1 and September 30, 2026, compared with 499 filed in the twelve months from July 2025 through June 2026, an average of about 125 a quarter. A filing is not a finished building, and many plans never get built, so treat it as a sign of activity, not a forecast of the tax roll. Browse the underlying records on our Austin development page.
What this means if you're buying or selling here
- Buying: ask your title company how it is estimating the 2026 bill and whether the estimate uses the new rates. Put the January 31 date in your calendar. If you buy after the bill has been issued, check whether it has been paid.
- Selling: expect to credit the buyer for the months you owned the home. If you have not received your 2026 bill by closing, ask the title company what it is assuming.
- Either way: your own number is on the bill, not in a headline. Taxable value times each unit's rate, added together, is the bill. Our property tax analyzer lets you check the math from a parcel's notice.
For tax, lending or legal specifics, talk with the Travis County Tax Office, the appraisal district or a licensed professional. This is general information, not advice about your situation.
If you are lining up a purchase or sale and want a local agent to walk through the closing numbers with you, start here.