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What the homestead exemption is actually worth here
$140,000 off school taxable value — roughly $1,308 to $1,649 a year on the west side, district depending, and double the exemption at 65+. Free to claim, filed once, and it switches on the 10% cap most owners forget.
The short answer
The Texas homestead exemption takes $140,000 off your home's taxable value for school district taxes — raised from $100,000 by Proposition 13 in November 2025, applying beginning with tax year 2025. On the west side that is worth roughly $1,308 to $1,649 a year depending on your school district, and homeowners 65+ or disabled get $200,000 off instead (Proposition 11's additional $60,000). It is free to claim, filed once, and it switches on a second benefit — the 10% appraisal cap — that can quietly outearn the exemption itself in a corridor appreciating like this one.
Verified 2026-10-08 · rates are each district's adopted 2026–27 rate · arithmetic shown per district below
What it's worth, district by district
The exemption's dollar value is just exemption × your school district's rate. Here is that arithmetic at the adopted 2026–27 rates, for the districts a west-side address actually lands in:
| District | Roughly covers | 2026–27 school rate | Worth per year ($140K) | 65+/disabled ($200K) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aledo ISD | Aledo, much of Willow Park, Walsh, parts of Hudson Oaks | $1.1775 | ≈$1,649 | ≈$2,355 |
| White Settlement ISD | White Settlement | $1.1528 | ≈$1,614 | ≈$2,306 |
| Fort Worth ISD | Fort Worth proper, incl. Benbrook | $1.0291 | ≈$1,441 | ≈$2,058 |
| Weatherford ISD | Weatherford, parts of Hudson Oaks and Willow Park | $0.9342 | ≈$1,308 | ≈$1,868 |
Three reading notes. First, the district is set by your address, not your city — Willow Park and Hudson Oaks both split between districts, and Benbrook is Fort Worth ISD (the 2026 ratings page maps this). Second, the November 2025 increase alone — the $40,000 bump from $100K to $140K — is worth roughly $374–$471 a year in these districts at the 2026–27 rates. Third, these figures are the school-district slice only: cities, counties, and special districts levy separately and some offer their own optional exemptions — your appraisal-district record shows exactly which ones apply to your address.
How to claim it (free, once)
- File Form 50-114 with your county appraisal district — Tarrant Appraisal District for Tarrant-side addresses (Benbrook, White Settlement, Fort Worth), Parker County Appraisal District for Parker-side (Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Weatherford). Online, free.
- Do it the week you close. You qualify once you own and occupy the home as your principal residence — no need to wait for a new year, and if you missed it, late filing is allowed for a limited period (ask your appraisal district).
- Never pay a “filing service.” Mailers offering to file it for $50–$100 sell you a free form. The districts themselves warn about these.
- File once, keep it. No annual renewal. Update it only if you move.
The quiet second benefit: qualifying activates the 10% appraisal cap — your homestead's taxable value can't rise more than 10% a year regardless of market value, starting your second year with the exemption. The property-tax playbook covers the cap, the free annual protest, and the PID/MUD layer together.
Who this applies to
New buyers anywhere in the corridor — this is the first form to file after closing, and the savings above are annual, not one-time. Owners 65+ or disabled — the additional $60,000 (a $200,000 total) plus the school-tax ceiling makes this the single most valuable filing in Texas property tax. Renters running the buy math — the exemption narrows the rent-vs-buy gap; the calculator and the rent-vs-buy engine both assume you claim it.
One honest timing note
The rates above are the adopted 2026–27 rates — what tax-year-2026 bills will be computed on (2025 bills used last year's slightly higher rates). Several corridor districts have been cutting for years; this page is refreshed each cycle as new rates land.
2026 adoption watch
Aledo ISD is in: on August 24, 2026 the board adopted a 2026–27 rate of $1.1775 per $100 — down $0.0167 from $1.1942 and the district's eighth consecutive reduction. Once 2026 bills issue, the $140,000 exemption is worth about $1,649 a year in Aledo ISD (65+/disabled at $200,000: about $2,355) — roughly $23 less than on the 2025 rate, because a lower rate makes every exemption dollar worth slightly less. Weatherford ISD followed on September 14: trustees adopted a 2026–27 rate of $0.9342 per $100 (M&O $0.7552 + I&S $0.1790) — a full $0.10 below 2025's $1.0342, with the cut on the debt side (board action as reported by the Weatherford Democrat; the district's own tax pages still showed 2025–26 on our verify date). On the new rate, the $140,000 exemption is worth about $1,308 a year in Weatherford ISD (65+/disabled at $200,000: about $1,868) — and the Aledo-vs-Weatherford school-tax gap widens to $0.2433 per $100. And the last two are in, per the Tarrant County Tax Office's official Truth-in-Taxation summary: White Settlement ISD adopted $1.1528 for tax year 2026 (down $0.0107 from its tax-year-2025 rate of $1.1635), making the $140,000 exemption worth about $1,614 a year there (65+/disabled at $200,000: about $2,306); and Fort Worth ISD adopted $1.029099, essentially unchanged, worth about $1,441 ($200,000: about $2,058). All four corridor districts have now adopted for 2026–27, every one flat or down — and the cross-confirmation has landed: the official “Adopted Tax Rates – Parker County” list (updated September 30) carries Aledo ISD's $1.1775 and Weatherford ISD's $0.9342 on one county record. The main table above now shows the adopted 2026–27 rates.
Correction, October 19, 2026: this page said White Settlement ISD's 2026 rate was down $0.0541 and called it the corridor's largest cut. The Tarrant County Tax Office's Truth-in-Taxation summary shows White Settlement ISD at $1.1635 for tax year 2025 ($1.2069 was its 2024 rate), so the 2026 cut is $0.0107; Weatherford ISD's $0.10 is the largest. The table's rate column is now labeled 2026–27 (the rates in it always were), and the value of the November 2025 increase is restated at 2026–27 rates. All four district rates were re-checked against the Tarrant summary and the Parker County adopted-rates list on October 19, 2026.
Next steps
- Check whether your exemption is already on file: look up your address in your appraisal district's records.
- Not on file? Submit Form 50-114 to the appraisal district for your county. Free.
- 65+ or disabled? File the additional exemption at the same time.
- Pair it with the annual protest — the playbook walks both levers.
Sources
- Texas Comptroller — residence homestead exemptions (framework, Form 50-114).
- Proposition 13 & 11 (November 2025) — $140,000 general school exemption applying from tax year 2025; additional 65+/disabled exemption to $60,000.
- Aledo ISD — 2025-26 adopted rate $1.1942 (seventh consecutive reduction); 2026-27 adopted rate $1.1775 (district news, 2026-08-24; eighth consecutive reduction).
- Weatherford ISD — 2026-27 adopted rate $0.9342 (M&O $0.7552 + I&S $0.1790); prior year $1.0342.
- Fort Worth ISD — adopted rate $1.0291 (board adoption 2025-08-26; cross-checked against the county Form 50-859 worksheet).
- White Settlement ISD — 2026-27 adopted rate $1.1528 and Fort Worth ISD $1.029099 per the official Tarrant County Truth-in-Taxation summary; prior year (tax year 2025) $1.1635 per the same summary (corrected October 19, 2026; an earlier version gave $1.2069, which is the tax-year-2024 rate); rate history also in the county database.
- Cross-confirmation — the official Adopted Tax Rates – Parker County list (updated 2026-09-30).
Verified 2026-10-08. Educational only — not tax or legal advice for any specific situation; confirm your own exemptions with your appraisal district.
Keep reading
the buyer's guide · the property-tax playbook · first-time buying in Texas · rate tables by city & district · living in Benbrook