Can someone explain how the $5000 homestead exemption will work in El Paso, Texas?

Question

I've found some articles about it but I can't read them since I'm at work. We have a very strict Web protector!! Can someone help me with this?

Will it be taken off of the homes value? How will it work?

Answer 1

In Texas, the house you live in as your primary residence is given a tax break over a similar investment property you may own. This is called the homestead exemption.

The $5,000 will be taken off the overall value of the house (not taken off the tax bill).

Answer 2

In El Paso, Texas your property is taxed by several entities on one bill. Depending on where you live, you could pay taxes to a school district, community college, thomason hospital, county of el paso, city of el paso among others. These entities tax you based on the value of your property which is determined by the Central Appraisal District.

A homestead exemption will lower the taxable value for the entity granting you the exemption. The schools are required to give a minimum of $15,000 exemption on homestead properties. Other than that, exemptions are pretty much granted at the discretion of the entity.

So when El Paso City Coucil approves a $5000 homestead exemption, this lowers your taxable value only for the city's portion of your tax bill. The 2006 tax rate for the city of El Paso was .672326 per $100 in value. A $5000 exemption would result in your tax bill to be lower by $33.62.