We all know that you can freeze the school portion of your property taxes the year that you turn 65. The school portion is the bulk of the total.
Some counties also choose to extend the freeze to some of the other components of the bill beyond the school portion.
Your tax cannot be increased if you are only doing fix-up stuff like a new roof, driveway, septic, electrical, HVAC, landscaping, etc. So, you can increase your market value and equity without paying more taxes.

I intentionally bought a beater of a house with great potential just before I turned 65, then enacted the freeze at a very low value and went to work on the house. Still have much to do.

Here is the important part: If you move to another Texas location, the tax on your new home is based on the percentage of the tax bill that you were paying. Think about that.
After 5 years of being frozen, I am paying around 34% of the “unfrozen” amount and that spread keeps growing. This opens new doors for me in selecting my next place. I can scale up and not get killed by taxes, or scale down and pay r e a l l y low taxes.

I certainly won’t argue with the appraisal district when they increase the appraisal amount again and again!

Marc

I don’t comprehend, how about an example if you move. Also, what if your taxes are frozen and you add a large cover over a patio. Would that re-set your frozen taxes to a higher number?

so now you can afford to move to bois d'arc lake?

improvement vs. repair/replacement is the main thing, if you have a pc of plywood over the patio on 2 2x4s for legs attached to the roof then you can go back later and add a full pergola type fancy smancy cover and gain on value while not paying more in taxes.

I did a lot of work on victorians in durango colorado for people from kalifornicate doing the same thing, get it appraised at purchase then go nuts making it what you want but within the parameters of the national historical society, I know what a headache is.

Do taxes of any kind freeze on rental properties when you turn 65 ?

Example in round numbers: My current taxes paid are $ 4,000. per year, but would have climbed to $ 12,000. if I had not frozen them. So my percentage is around 33%.

If I upscale to a house that has an appraisal value that equals a tax bill of $ 20,000. per year, I BRING MY 33% with me and I will pay 33% of that.
So my tax bill will be $ 6,660. saving me over $ 13,000. per year, which might be the difference between being able to afford it with my budget.

If I decide to dramatically downscale to a property that has an appraisal that results in a tax bill of $ 2,000., my tax bill will be $ 660. per year.

Does this help?

Marc

Only one residence at a time.

I have neighbors who are "weekenders" here at the lake. Their lakefront homes have increased in value and tax so far so fast, that they take the exemptions on the vacation homes instead of their real residence.

I like it where I am! But, if things don't go as planned.......

Makes sense now Marc. So if you moved, the new taxing entity has your previous taxing entities info?

You bring a certified copy or letter from the old entity.

Marc

On the driveway, do you mean only a repair to a driveway with like kind driveway materials? My driveway is mostly hard packed dirt and some gravel. I imagine I could add gravel. What if I put in a concrete driveway?

Check with

Check with your appraisal district for specifics. I developed a good relationship with my county appraiser. We laid 8,000 sq ft of asphalt to replace crushed rock and Henderson County said that is a maintenance item.