What is the effective property tax rate in New Braunfels for 2026?

You must file your homestead exemption with the Comal Central Appraisal District by April 30 of the tax year for which you want the benefit. The exemption is not automatic — it requires a completed application and a copy of your Texas driver's license showing your homestead address. If you close in 2026, you can file immediately after closing and the exemption will take effect for the 2026 tax year if filed before the April 30 deadline, or for the 2027 tax year if you close after that date. Filing online at comalad.org takes about ten minutes and is the fastest method.

The savings depend on your assessed value and the specific tax rates that apply to your address, but the school district exemption alone is the most impactful. With the current $100,000 school district homestead exemption and Comal ISD's 2026 rate of approximately $0.9542 per $100, that exemption saves you roughly $954 per year on school taxes alone. County and city exemptions typically save an additional $100 to $250 annually depending on the amounts offered by those entities. For most mid-range homes in New Braunfels, total annual savings from all homestead exemptions combined run between $1,100 and $1,800 per year — real money that compounds over time.

A Municipal Utility District is a special-purpose governmental body created under Texas law to finance water, wastewater, drainage, and sometimes road infrastructure for a new development. The developer issues bonds to pay for infrastructure upfront, and property owners in the district repay those bonds through an additional tax rate layered on top of the standard county, city, and school taxes. To find out if a property sits in a MUD, search the address on comalad.org and review all listed taxing entities — any entry with 'MUD,' 'WCID,' or 'PID' in the name is a special district. Your agent should pull this for every property you seriously consider, and Texas sellers are required to disclose MUD membership in the sales contract.

For most homeowners, yes — especially in years when values have risen sharply. The Appraisal Review Board process in Comal County is accessible and relatively straightforward, and the informal hearing stage resolves the majority of protests without a formal proceeding. If your assessed value has jumped more than 10% year-over-year or you believe the CCAD's figure does not reflect actual market conditions for your specific property, gathering three to five comparable closed sales and presenting them at your hearing is often enough to achieve a meaningful reduction. Even a $20,000 reduction in taxable value can save $300 to $400 per year at current rates. Property tax protest firms that work on contingency are a low-risk option for owners who do not want to handle the process themselves.