Press Items: Senator Paul Bettencourt — District 7
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2026
HOUSTON, TX – In Texas’ largest county, Harris County Commissioners’ Court is set to push property taxes to the extreme highest property tax rate, which will nearly exceed the tax bill of Houston ISD, the largest school district in Texas. New data released this week by Senator Paul Bettencourt’s office shows the Harris County-only portion of a home property tax bill has reached $1,354.08, compared to a statewide average ISD homestead tax bill of $896.46, a gap of $457.62, nearly 50%.
The SB’s PTax Barometer success of lowering the average ISD homestead tax bill to $896 can’t be underestimated.
“Harris County’s property tax load on homes and businesses has exploded since 2023. There’s simply no fact or supposition of fact that a county’s tax bill should equal an ISD, and that goes double for the state’s largest county and school district,” Bettencourt said. “The fact that Harris County is already this near their ISD’s homestead tax bill is bad for taxpayers. No combined county property tax bill should ever come close to equaling their ISD homestead tax bill anywhere in the state,” he added.
The data puts Harris County’s combined tax bill at $2,160.08 in 2026, just $56.50 under the Houston ISD homestead tax bill of $2,216.58. Harris County sets its rates all at the same time, which is expected to be $0.67, and the result is that Harris County homeowners are now paying almost as much to their county as they pay to educate their children.
THE PTAX BAROMETER
| Harris Cty | HISD | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Tax Bill | $2,160.08 | $2,216.58 | $56.50 |
| County Only Tax Bill | 2025 Avg. ISD Tax Bill | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Amount | $1,354.08 | $896.46 | $(457.62) |
Data prepared by the Office of Senator Paul Bettencourt. For more information on how we arrived at these numbers, see the full report here:
https://senate.texas.gov/members/d07/uploads/FINAL-SLGC-Sept-2-hearing-with-graphics.pdf
As the Texas Legislature has been working hard to knock down school property tax bills, $51 billion since 2019, Harris County has been jacking up its own tax rates. The Harris County-only rate climbed from $0.35007 per $100 of value in 2023 to $0.41900 in 2026, a 19.69% increase in three years. The county’s total combined rate rose from $0.53029 to $0.67000 over the same period, a 26.35% increase.
“This week, for the first time ever, my office released the first ever statewide property tax survey of all 254 counties’ ISD homestead tax bills. We’ve released the data, and now I’m using the PTax Barometer for all Texas taxpayers to measure the pressure their own counties and cities are putting on them! I am calling on elected officials and the public to use this PTax Barometer measurement of $896 a year, and compare it to their city and county tax bills. Realizing that when cities and counties are exceeding the average ISD homestead property tax, it’s not good news for property taxpayers,” Bettencourt concluded.
Check your county’s property taxes here: https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/property-tax-transparency/
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