Current Taxes

Current taxes are collected by the taxing jurisdiction's assessor/collector. In Montgomery County the Appraisal District does not collect taxes. Current taxes are due when the statement is received by the property owner. Property owners usually have until January 31 to pay their taxes without penalty. Under some circumstances, this deadline may be extended. Failure to receive a tax bill does not eliminate the taxpayer’s responsibility to pay their taxes on time.

Generally tax bills are mailed by October 1 of each year. Taxing jurisdictions may send tax bills at anytime when the appraisal district notifies the jurisdiction of a change that has affected the tax liability. This may occur when a property has been added to the appraisal roll, after the appraisal review board has approved the roll. The ARB may approve other changes that may require a "supplemental" or "corrected" tax statement.

Delinquent Taxes

Delinquent taxpayers across Texas currently owe millions of dollars in taxes, penalties and interest. Each January 1, taxing jurisdictions obtain a property right known as a tax lien. This lien attaches to each piece of taxable property in the jurisdiction. This lien gives the unit the right to ask the court to order the sheriff to sell the property if the taxes become delinquent.

If taxes are not paid prior to the delinquency date, additional charges begin to accrue. A delinquent tax accumulates penalty and interest. The penalty is a six-percent charge the first month and an additional one-percent per month (or any part of a month), until July 1, when the penalty becomes 12-percent. Interest accrues at one-percent per month. In addition to penalty and interest charges, a taxing jurisdiction may charge up to 20-percent of taxes, penalty and interest to cover collection costs if it hires a private collection attorney.

Setting the Tax Rates

Once the appraisal review board approves the appraisal records, the chief appraiser prepares and certifies an appraisal roll for each taxing unit. An appraisal roll lists the taxable property within the boundaries of the taxing unit. In September or October of each year, the governing body of each taxing unit adopts a tax rate which, when applied to the total taxable value of all property which is taxable by that unit, produces a tax levy sufficient to meet the unit’s budgeted revenue needs.