SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council unanimously approved a new tax break for city homeowners at a special meeting Monday night.
The general homestead exemption will exempt .01 percent of a home's appraised value from the city’s portion of property taxes, with a minimum exemption of $5,000. The tax break is estimated to save homeowners $28 on their tax bills each year.
"It is a start for property tax relief in San Antonio, something that has never been done before and something homeowners have been asking for," said Mayor Ron Nirenberg in an interview before the meeting Monday.
"So this is an opportunity for us to bring one additional exemption to the city's property tax bill. And it should be done today," he said.
Homestead exemptions reduce the taxable value of someone's primary residence. So the exemption would only be for homeowners, rather than landlords or commercial property owners.
Such exemptions are already available to Bexar County homeowners for the portions of their tax bills that go to some other entities like the local school districts or the San Antonio River Authority.
Other cities in the county, like Fair Oaks Ranch and Balcones Heights, also provide homestead exemptions.
While the city offers property tax relief options for seniors and disabled people, a general homestead exemption will apply to homeowners across the board.
It will be effective for the current tax year, which began Jan. 1, and should be automatically applied to anyone with a current homestead exemption.