By Phyllis Domingo, REALTOR® · San Antonio Relocation Specialist · 5 min read For the 2026 tax year, Texas homeowners 65 and older get a $60,000 additional school-district exemption on top of a $140,000 general homestead exemption, and their school taxes are frozen once they qualify. Here is what that means in real dollars for San Antonio and Hill Country households.
The headline number
For the 2026 tax year, Texas homeowners 65 and older receive a $60,000 additional residence homestead exemption from school district taxes, on top of the general $140,000 school-district homestead exemption, for a combined $200,000 exempted from school taxes. Texas voters approved both increases in November 2025 through Propositions 13 and 11, per the Texas Comptroller.
That is the single most useful number for a 65-plus homeowner to know, because a $200,000 school-tax exemption is a real, recurring line-item difference on an annual property tax bill.
The school tax freeze
Once a homeowner 65 or older qualifies for the homestead exemption, their school district taxes are capped at the dollar amount owed in the year they first received the exemption, and that amount cannot go up while they keep the homestead, even if the home's appraised value or the school tax rate rises. Texas Land Tax
The practical effect: for the school-tax portion of your bill, your budget is protected against both rising appraisals and rising school tax rates.
What the freeze means when you downsize
When you sell the family home and move to a smaller house, the freeze does not automatically carry over: the new home becomes a new homestead, and you reapply in the year you move in, locking your school taxes at the new home's level from that first qualifying year.
The upside is predictability. A single-story home with a lower appraised value starts the freeze at a lower dollar amount, which is one more reason the math on downsizing can work out beyond just a smaller mortgage.
- The exemption requires an application with your appraisal district; it is not automatic.
- Only school district taxes are frozen: city and county taxes can still rise unless your city or county offers its own senior freeze.
- Surviving spouses and other specific situations have their own rules, so the details are worth reviewing before you file.
What this is and is not
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. The dollar figures above come from the Texas Comptroller and the 2025 ballot measures, and your actual bill depends on your home's appraised value, your school district, and your filing deadline.
The right move is to talk to your appraisal district, and ideally a tax professional, with your actual situation in hand.
Bring your own numbers
If you are weighing a downsizing move in San Antonio, Boerne, or the Hill Country, I can help you compare homes and neighborhoods, and I will never push you past a number you are comfortable with. Call or text me at 210-744-5478, or use the contact page, and we will run the math together.
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Sources
The numbers in this post were checked against these sources on September 29, 2026.
