Above: the arithmetic that shows up in October and gets decided in September.
September is when your property tax bill actually gets written. Not October, when it arrives. September, when three separate elected bodies each vote on a number, mostly in rooms that are open to the public and mostly empty.
This year the three numbers are moving in three different directions, and one of them may not get voted on at all.
Here is the whole picture in one place, with the dates, and with the arithmetic worked out on a real house.
Key takeaways
- City of Sugar Land is proposing $0.381116 per $100 for tax year 2026, up from the adopted $0.358827. That is an increase of 2.23 cents, about 6.2 percent on the rate.
- Fort Bend County is proposing 42.20 cents, the same nominal rate as 2024 and 2025. Because values rose, that is still an effective increase of about 4.05 percent and sits 1.64 cents above the no new revenue rate.
- Fort Bend ISD is expected to go down about 6 cents, from $1.05 back toward roughly $0.9869, as a temporary increase expires.
- On a $500,000 Sugar Land home with unchanged value, those three moves net out to roughly $132 less per year, because the school district is the biggest line on your bill.
- The county may not be able to vote. Texas law requires four members of Commissioners Court to adopt a tax rate, and two commissioners have been absent since June. Without a quorum, state law imposes the lower of the current rate or the no new revenue rate automatically.
- Three dates decide it: Sugar Land's tax rate hearing September 8 and adoption September 15; the county's hearings and adoption September 10. Everything must be adopted by September 30.
- None of this is adopted yet. Every figure here is a proposal or a projection.
The three rates, side by side
Answer first: two of your three biggest taxing entities are asking for more money, one is asking for less, and the one asking for less is the largest, which is why the net lands where it does.
| Taxing entity | 2025 rate | 2026 status | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sugar Land | $0.358827 | $0.381116 proposed | up 2.23 cents, 6.2 percent |
| Fort Bend County + Drainage | $0.4220 | $0.4220 proposed | flat rate, 4.05 percent effective increase |
| Fort Bend ISD | $1.0500 | about $0.9869 projected | down about 6.3 cents |
Your bill also includes a MUD or LID, and that one is entirely local to your section. In parts of Fort Bend the district line alone swings a payment by hundreds of dollars a month, which I covered in detail in the Riverstone guide and again in Greatwood. Nothing in this post changes that piece. Check your own district.
Sugar Land: a 2.23 cent proposal
The city's own Property Taxes page states that the FY2027 budget includes a proposed tax rate of $0.381116 per $100 for tax year 2026. The adopted 2025 rate was $0.358827, set on September 16, 2025.
For context, here is the recent path:
| Tax year | City rate |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $0.350000 |
| 2024 | $0.353210 |
| 2025 | $0.358827 |
| 2026 proposed | $0.381116 |
The reason this deserves a second look is what the city told voters when the bonds were on the ballot. The city's own tax impact materials described an estimated one cent per year, with the bond program requiring a total increase of no more than five cents spread across five to seven years.
The last two moves were half a cent and then a bit more. This one is 2.23 cents in a single year, which is more than double that pace. Over the two years from 2024, the rate would go from $0.353210 to $0.381116, a total of 2.79 cents against a telegraphed two.
That is not a scandal and I am not calling it one. Costs rise, the FY2027 budget is $520.7 million with $343.5 million in operations and $128.8 million in capital, and the city maintains AAA and Aaa ratings. But a resident who took "about a penny a year" at face value is entitled to ask what changed, and September 8 is the meeting where you ask it.
I wrote about the FY2027 budget back on August 10, when the rate had not been proposed. The budget breakdown still holds on the spending side. This is the number that was missing from it.
Fort Bend County: the flat rate that is still an increase
Answer first: the county proposed the same 42.20 cents it charged in 2024 and 2025, and under Texas law that still counts as a tax increase, because your value went up.
The breakdown is 41.2 cents for the county plus 1 cent for the Fort Bend County Drainage District. The no new revenue rate is 39.5979 cents for the county and 0.9609 cents for the drainage district, roughly 40.5588 cents combined. The proposal sits about 1.64 cents above that, which the county describes as an effective increase of 4.05 percent.
This is the single most misunderstood idea in Texas property tax, so here it is plainly. The no new revenue rate is the rate that would collect the same total dollars this year as last year from the same properties. When values rise and the rate stays flat, the county collects more money. Holding the number still is not holding your bill still.
Each cent of the county rate generates about $13.1 million.
What it looks like on the county's own example, using an average homestead taxable value of $322,324:
| Annual county tax | |
|---|---|
| Paid last year | $1,360 |
| At the no new revenue rate | $1,330 |
| At the proposed rate | $1,384 |
That is $54 more than the no new revenue rate would produce.
The part that makes this year unusual
Fort Bend County may not be able to adopt a rate at all.
Under Texas law, four members of Commissioners Court must be present to adopt the county tax rate. Since June, Democratic Commissioners Dexter McCoy and Grady Prestage have not attended meetings. The August 13 meeting that set the proposed rate went forward with Interim County Judge Daniel Wong and Republican Commissioners Andy Meyers and Vincent Morales present.
The underlying dispute is about the county judge's seat. Wong was appointed after former County Judge KP George was suspended following a felony conviction. The county attorney has argued Wong's temporary appointment ended June 17. Wong disagrees, and on August 6, District Judge Edward Krenek ruled Wong could remain while the dispute is resolved. The absent commissioners have proposed that Wong recuse himself from the budget and tax rate votes so the four elected commissioners can act.
I am not going to take a side on that. What matters for your bill is the mechanism, and the mechanism is clean:
If four members are not present on September 10, state law automatically sets the rate at the lower of the current rate or the no new revenue rate. Practically, that means roughly 40.5 cents instead of 42.2.
The county's finance director estimated that outcome would cost about $21.3 million in revenue. County officials have warned it would mean no cost of living adjustments for employees and delays to road, flood control and park projects.
So the honest summary for a homeowner: a failed quorum lowers your county tax bill by about $54 on an average homestead and costs the county $21.3 million in services. Whether that trade is good or bad depends on what you think the county does with the money, and that is a genuine political question rather than a real estate one.
Fort Bend ISD: the one going down
Answer first: your school rate is expected to fall about 6 cents because a temporary increase is expiring, and because the school district is the biggest line on your bill, that decrease outweighs the city's increase.
Last year FBISD raised its rate from about $0.99 to $1.05 using what Texas law calls disaster pennies, which allow a limited increase without voter approval. That increase funded salary raises and was described as temporary.
Chief Financial Officer Bryan Guinn told the board on May 11 that the combined rate for the 2026 to 2027 school year is predicted to go down $0.06 to almost $1 per $100 valuation, reverting toward $0.9869. The district projected the average homeowner's annual school tax bill would decrease by about $84 even with average home values expected to rise $8,739.
Treat that as a projection. The school board adopts its own rate on its own schedule, and the number can move.
What it actually does to your bill
Here is the arithmetic on a real house, with every assumption stated, because this is the part nobody puts in writing.
Take a $500,000 appraised home in Sugar Land, zoned to Fort Bend ISD, with homestead exemptions applied. Assume the appraised value did not change, so we are isolating the effect of the rates alone.
| Entity | Exemption | Taxable | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sugar Land | 15 percent | $425,000 | $1,525 | $1,620 | +$95 |
| Fort Bend County | 20 percent | $400,000 | $1,688 | $1,688 | $0 |
| Fort Bend ISD | $140,000 | $360,000 | $3,780 | $3,553 | -$227 |
| Net | about -$132 |
Three things about that table.
The school district dominates. At roughly a dollar per hundred against the city's thirty eight cents, FBISD is more than half your bill before any MUD. A 6 cent move there beats a 2.23 cent move at the city, even though the school exemption shrinks the base it applies to.
The county line shows zero, and that is the trick. The rate is flat, so on an unchanged value your county bill is unchanged. But values did not stay flat. If your appraisal rose, your county tax rose with it, and that is precisely why the flat rate counts as an increase under state law.
This excludes your MUD or LID entirely. In some Fort Bend districts that line alone runs above a dollar. It is set by a different board on a different night, and it is the single biggest source of variation between two homes at the same price.
For the full structure of a Fort Bend tax bill and who levies what, the property tax guide breaks it down entity by entity.
The dates that matter
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 8 | City of Sugar Land public hearing on the proposed tax rate |
| September 9 and 10 | Fort Bend County budget public hearings |
| September 10 | County tax rate hearing and adoption vote, quorum required |
| September 15 | Sugar Land adopts the budget and tax rate |
| September 30 | State deadline for the county to adopt |
| October | Bills mail, reflecting certified values and adopted rates |
FBCAD has already certified the 2026 appraisal roll, so the value side of your bill is largely locked. What is still open is the rate side, and that is what these meetings decide.
What you can actually do
Five things, in order of how much they are worth.
1. Make sure your homestead exemption is on file. This is the highest return action available and it is free. If you bought in the last year and never filed, you are paying on an unexempted value across every entity. The homestead exemption guide covers the filing and the five year reverification rule.
2. Look up your own property in the state's tax database. Texas.gov/PropertyTaxes links to a database showing exactly what each entity that taxes your property would charge under its proposed rate. You can subscribe to notifications on your specific parcel. This beats reading any article, including this one.
3. Show up on September 8 or September 10, or send an email. These hearings are public and they are usually near empty. A room with fifteen residents in it changes a conversation more than people believe.
4. Find your MUD or LID rate and read its notice. Your utility district is holding its own hearing, on its own night, and nobody covers it. Fort Bend County publishes a MUD and LID lookup tool. This is often the biggest single line you have never examined.
5. Plan your protest for next spring, not this fall. The value is certified. The window to argue it has closed for 2026. What you can do now is note what you would have argued, and the protest guide tells you how to prepare it properly.
If you are buying or selling this fall
Answer first: use estimated 2026 rates in your math, not the numbers on a listing sheet.
Buyers. Listing tax figures are almost always last year's actual bill on the seller's exemptions, which may include a homestead exemption or an over 65 freeze you do not inherit. Your first year is frequently higher than the listing implies, sometimes dramatically. Ask your lender to escrow against the estimated 2026 rate and your own exemption status, not the seller's.
Sellers. Your buyer's lender is running this arithmetic whether you do or not. In a market with record inventory, a seller who can hand a buyer an accurate carrying cost sheet, including the correct MUD, removes a real objection. The closing costs guide covers how taxes get prorated at closing, which is a separate question people conflate with this one.
The honest caveats
Four, straight.
First, none of these rates is adopted. The city figure is described as proposed on the city's own site. The county figure is a proposal that may or may not get a quorum. The school figure is a projection from May. All three can move.
Second, the formal Notice of Tax Rate for the City of Sugar Land, with its no new revenue and voter approval comparisons, had not posted as of this writing. When it does, it will be the authoritative document and it will supersede the summary figure I am quoting from the city's Property Taxes page.
Third, my worked example holds the appraised value constant to isolate the rate changes. Your actual bill also moves with your value, and for most Fort Bend homeowners the value rose. It also excludes your MUD or LID and any additional exemptions such as over 65 or disabled.
Fourth, the county quorum situation is a live legal and political dispute and I have described the mechanism, not the merits. What happens on September 10 is genuinely unknown as of today.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sugar Land raising property taxes in 2026?
The city has proposed a tax rate of $0.381116 per $100 of valuation for tax year 2026, up from the adopted 2025 rate of $0.358827. That is an increase of about 2.23 cents, or roughly 6.2 percent on the rate itself. The public hearing on the proposed rate is scheduled for September 8, 2026, with adoption of the budget and rate on September 15. The rate is proposed, not adopted, until that vote happens.
Why is a flat county tax rate still called a tax increase?
Because Texas measures a tax increase against the no new revenue rate, not against last year's rate. The no new revenue rate is the rate that would collect the same total dollars from the same properties as the prior year. When appraised values rise and the rate stays the same, the taxing entity collects more money. Fort Bend County's proposed 42.20 cents is about 1.64 cents above the combined no new revenue rate of roughly 40.5588 cents, which the county states is an effective increase of about 4.05 percent.
What happens if Fort Bend County commissioners do not have a quorum?
Texas law requires four members of Commissioners Court to adopt a county tax rate. If four are not present by the deadline, state law automatically sets the rate at the lower of the current year's rate or the no new revenue rate. In practice that would mean roughly 40.5 cents instead of the proposed 42.2 cents. The county's finance director estimated that outcome would cost about $21.3 million in revenue, and county officials have said it would mean no cost of living adjustments for employees and delays to road, flood control and park projects. Adoption is scheduled for September 10 and the state deadline is September 30.
Is Fort Bend ISD lowering its tax rate?
It is projected to. The district raised its rate from about $0.99 to $1.05 for one year using what Texas law calls disaster pennies, which permit a limited increase without voter approval, and that increase was described as temporary. Chief Financial Officer Bryan Guinn told the board on May 11, 2026 that the combined rate for the 2026 to 2027 school year is predicted to go down about $0.06, back toward roughly $0.9869. The district projected the average homeowner's school tax bill would drop about $84 even with average values rising. It remains a projection until the board adopts a rate.
Will my Fort Bend property tax bill go up or down this year?
On an unchanged appraised value, the three proposed moves lean slightly downward, because the school district decrease is larger in dollar terms than the city increase and the county rate is flat. On a $500,000 Sugar Land home zoned to Fort Bend ISD with standard homestead exemptions, the net works out to roughly $132 less per year. Your actual bill will differ, because your appraised value likely changed, because your MUD or LID rate is set separately and is not included in that figure, and because none of the three rates has been adopted yet.
When will I get my 2026 Fort Bend property tax bill?
Bills typically mail in October, reflecting the certified 2026 appraisal roll combined with the rates each entity adopts in September. FBCAD has already certified the 2026 roll, so the value side is largely settled. The rate side is what the September meetings decide.
How do I find out what my MUD or LID charges?
Fort Bend County publishes a lookup tool that identifies the utility or levee district serving a specific property, and each district posts its own notice of public hearing on its own rate. This matters more than most homeowners realize, because MUD and LID rates vary widely across Fort Bend and can differ substantially between two sections of the same master planned community. Your district's hearing is a separate meeting on a separate night from the city and county hearings.
Bottom line
Your city wants 2.23 cents more. Your county wants the same number it charged last year, which under Texas law is still 4.05 percent more. Your school district, which is more than half your bill, is expected to give about 6 cents back.
Net it out on a $500,000 house that did not change in value, and you are looking at roughly $132 less. Net it out on a house that gained value, and you may still be up.
The three votes happen on September 8, September 10 and September 15. The bill arrives in October, and by then none of it is negotiable.
Make sure your homestead exemption is filed, look your parcel up in the state database, find out what your MUD charges, and if any of those three numbers bothers you, one of those three meetings is where you say so.
If you want your specific address run, including your actual MUD or LID and what your bill looks like under the proposed rates, send it over. I will pull it and show you the real number rather than the average.
Sources: City of Sugar Land Property Taxes and the FY2027 proposed budget release; Fort Bend County Tax Assessor Collector, Tax Rate Information; reporting on the August 13, 2026 Commissioners Court meeting via KPRC Click2Houston and the Fort Bend Independent; Community Impact reporting on the Fort Bend ISD tax rate projection, May 18, 2026; Fort Bend Central Appraisal District; Texas Comptroller property tax resources.
