BEAUMONT, Texas — Some homeowners in Southeast Texas are starting to receive notices that they need to reapply for their homestead exemption due to a new law that went into effect in September 2023.
The law, that went into effect on September 1, 2023, now requires Texas appraisal districts to put processes into place to make a “periodic review” of all homestead exemptions and check them at least once every five years.
Senate Bill 1801, sponsored by Texas Senator Drew Springer, R-Meunster, amended the Texas tax code to add the new rules and requires them to be in place by January 2024 so that a five-year review cycle can begin by then.
While the previous law required chief appraisers to determine if previous homestead exemptions were valid, it didn’t require them to proactively review exemptions according to a bill analysis from the Texas Senate Research Center.
Approximately 1% of homestead exemptions are not accurate and in 17 small to medium sized counties the removal of unqualified exemptions added $4 billion back to tax rolls according to the bill analysis.
To qualify for a homestead exemption in Texas the property must be the homeowner’s primary residence.
The Jefferson Central Appraisal District began sending out notices to property owners holding older exemptions in late August and early September 2023 according to chief appraiser Angela Bellard.
“What we're doing at this time is looking at the real old applications and getting them updated to make sure that they still qualify,” Bellard told 12News.
Homestead exemption holders are being asked to reapply for their exemption to confirm that they still qualify. This will include providing a current copy of their Texas driver’s license showing the same address as their exempted property.
This could potentially include about 40,000 homeowners in Jefferson County according to Bellard. The district will be working to verify those over the next five years.
There’s too many for the office to do all it once so they are working on them in weekly batches she told 12News.
Beginning in September 2011 all homestead exemption applicants had to provide a copy of their Texas driver’s license.
Moving forward, the district will be able to access the driver’s license database to verify addresses and make sure exemptions are current according to Bellard.
Jefferson County taxpayers should not worry about being penalized or potentially owing back taxes if they are found to have a homestead exemption they no longer qualify for according to Bellard.
“This is going to be for the 2024 tax year moving forward,” Bellard told 12News, “We will not go back and remove an exemption for a previous year which would require them to pay additional taxes.”
The Orange County Appraisal District has been auditing their accounts for several years and updating homestead exemptions as they go along according to chief appraiser Scott Overton.
If you obtained your homestead exemption before September 2011 you can preemptively go reapply by visiting the Jefferson Central Appraisal District website. You must register and/or sign in to fill out the form online.
If you receive a form in the mail, you can mail it back in or bring it to the appraisal district office in-person at 4610 4th St in Beaumont Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
You can also call (409) 840-9944 or visit the office for any questions or help filling out the form.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.