If you’re 65 or older or disabled and haven’t received your tax bill, it should arrive around Nov. 1, a Tarrant County tax official said. 

Wendy Burgess, the county’s tax-assessor collector, said the delay gives the county time to calculate updated discounts for the more than 133,000 Tarrant residents who qualify for an Over 65 exemption.  

Two pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 12, could change the county’s calculations for tax ceilings. When residents reach 65 years old, the amount of taxes they pay to school districts would freeze — called a tax ceiling. 

Under Proposition 4, residents 65 or older will receive an extra $10,000 on top of the $100,000 school district homestead exemption all homeowners will receive. The proposition will also reduce tax ceilings by $15,000, fixing an oversight created by Proposition 2, which was passed by voters in 2022. 

Voters have the choice to finalize Proposition 4 at the polls. Early voting began Oct. 23 and ends Nov. 3. Election day is Nov. 7. The change will affect residents’ 2023 tax bills. 

The county tax office is also working to recalculate discounts for residents 65 or older, stemming from legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019 that went unapplied for by the taxpayers who qualified. The discounts will go into effect on residents’ 2023 tax bills and discounts will be recalculated back to 2018. 

These discounts were approved by voters in 2022. 

“The process of recalculating the ceilings for these accounts is arduous and time-consuming for the more than 133,000 accounts that qualify,” Burgess said in a statement. “Statements will be mailed to taxpayers once all recalculated ceilings are completed.”

In the meantime, taxpayers can access the county’s online payment portal, which reflects the $100,000 homestead exemption for all homeowners but not the extra discounts for those 65 or older. The first recalculations are expected to be applied in late October, and many taxpayers may already see them in the tax office’s online portal, Burgess said. 

If you paid your property tax bill before the recalculations were complete, you are entitled to an automatic refund. Residents can call or email the tax office for more information at 817-884-1100 and taxoffice@tarrantcountytx.gov.

If you believe you qualify for an Over 65 or disability exemption, contact the Tarrant Appraisal District to apply. 

Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.