Travis Central Appraisal District https://traviscad.org/
Leana Mann currently serves as the chief Appraiser of the Travis Central Appraisal District. She has more than a decade of experience with TCAD and has held a variety of positions with the District. She is a Certified Government Finance Officer, a Certified Chief Appraiser and a Registered Professional Appraiser and has served as Chief Appraiser since March 2024.
The Appraisal District determines market values, sends out notices of appraised value, handles protests and administers exemption applications. While the Tax Office calculates and mails property tax bill and collects property tax payments. They do physical inspections about every three years.
Three factors determine the total amount of taxes imposed on a property:
- The appraised value established by the appraisal district.
- The exemptions, if any, to which the property may be entitled.
- The tax rates are set by the taxing units in which the property is located.
The purpose of the appraisal is to allocate the tax burden fairly among all taxpayers.
Changes in property values may affect your tax bill, but they do not necessarily increase or decrease your property tax bill.
That is determined by the taxing unit’s budget.
TravisTaxes.com can help you see a breakdown related to your property. (updated every August)
State law requires appraisal districts to appraise property at 100% of market value (what the property would sell for).
The assessment date is January 1
Appraisal districts use sales of similar homes to determine market value.
An exemption is the easiest way to lower your property tax bill.
It may do this by:
It may do this by:
- Reducing your property’s taxable value
- Capping increases on your property’s taxable value
In 2025, a homestead exemption saved the average Travis County property owner $3,663 on their property tax bill.
There are several different types of homestead exemptions:
- General residence
- Age 65 or older
- Disabled persons
- Disabled veteran/100% disabled veteran
- Surviving spouses
- Solar & Wind
- Disaster-related
A common misconception is that your property taxes can only increase by 10% a year. If you have a homestead exemption, your net appraised value is limited to a maximum increase of 10% per year. Your total property tax bill may increase by more than 10% per year, depending on the budgets set by your taxing units and bonds and tax rates approved by voters.
Another common misconception is that because Texas is a non-disclosure state, it is illegal for the appraisal district to know how much a property has sold for. Being a non-disclosure state means that the appraisal district is not given this information automatically after the sale. It does not mean that the appraisal district cannot know this information, they must search for it themselves.
It was asked which method of protesting your property taxes is better, to do it yourself or hire a business to handle your protest? Leana’s answer was, “It depends on whether you have time to prepare and present the protest”. You must gather information and photos and complete forms. Property protest companies know what information is needed and can do it quickly and easily, however you need to be careful that they do the job well and do not charge unless they actually reduce your tax bill.
