I get asked about property taxes almost as often as I get asked about square footage, and honestly, that makes sense. In Texas, we don’t have a state income tax, so a lot of what funds our schools, cities, and counties comes straight out of your property tax bill. If you’re looking at homes in Marble Falls, you need a real number to work with, not a vague “it varies.” So let’s get into what you’ll actually pay.
TL;DR: Marble Falls TX Property Tax Rate: What You’ll Actually Pay in 2026
- Marble Falls sits entirely in Burnet County, but your total tax bill is the sum of several overlapping taxing entities, not just one rate.
- The City of Marble Falls’ own rate is $0.535 per $100 of taxable value for the current fiscal year, unchanged from the year before.
- Marble Falls ISD’s total rate runs about 89 cents per $100, split between maintenance/operations and debt service.
- The median effective property tax rate across Marble Falls homes works out to roughly 1.14% of market value once every entity is combined.
- Texas just raised the homestead exemption significantly for 2025, which matters more to your actual bill than any single tax rate does.
What Is the Property Tax Rate in Marble Falls, TX?
There isn’t one single “Marble Falls tax rate.” Your bill is built by stacking together the rates from every taxing entity with authority over your specific address: the city, the county, the school district, and sometimes a smaller special district on top of that. I’ve had buyers assume that because two houses sit a half-mile apart, they’ll owe roughly the same in taxes. That’s not always true, and I want you to understand why before you fall in love with a specific street.
Here’s what I can tell you with real numbers behind it, based on the entities that apply to most homes inside the city:
- City of Marble Falls: $0.535 per $100 of taxable value. This rate held flat from the prior fiscal year, and the city council was explicit about not raising it even though rising property values meant more total revenue collected anyway.
- Marble Falls ISD: roughly 89 cents per $100, made up of about 67 cents for maintenance and operations (the day-to-day cost of running schools) and about 22 cents for interest and sinking (debt payments on bonds, including the district’s recent bond package). The district has been explicit that the bond didn’t require raising this rate.
- Burnet County: the county sets its own rate every August or September as part of its budget process, and it typically lands somewhere in the neighborhood of a third of a dollar per $100. I’m not going to hand you a locked-in figure here, because the county has genuinely moved this rate more than once in recent years and I’d rather send you to the source than risk quoting something stale. Burnet Central Appraisal District publishes the current adopted rate, and I’m happy to pull the exact number for your specific property when we talk.
Add those together and you’re looking at a combined rate in the neighborhood of $1.80 to $1.90 per $100 of taxable value for most homes inside Marble Falls city limits, before any exemptions are applied. That’s the sticker price. What you actually pay depends heavily on those exemptions, which I’ll get to.
The Real-World Number: What Marble Falls Homeowners Actually Pay
Adding up statutory rates is useful, but it’s not how most buyers think about affordability. What you really want to know is: as a percentage of what my home is worth, what will I owe every year? Based on actual property records across Marble Falls, the median effective tax rate works out to about 1.14% of market value. That’s higher than the national median of roughly 1.02%, but noticeably lower than the Texas statewide median of about 1.48%. Texas taxes property harder than most states because we don’t collect income tax, so this comparison isn’t a Marble Falls quirk, it’s a Texas-wide pattern.
That 1.14% figure isn’t uniform across every address, either. I’ve seen real tax bills on comparable-sized homes in Marble Falls range from roughly $1,260 a year to well over $3,500, and the gap almost always comes down to which specific taxing entities apply, how recently the home was reassessed, and whether the owner has a homestead exemption filed. Two homes with the same market value can carry very different bills depending on those factors.
Why Marble Falls Property Taxes Aren’t the Same for Every Buyer
A few things drive the variation I mentioned above, and I want to walk through each one honestly rather than give you a one-size-fits-all number.
Where exactly you’re buying
The city of Marble Falls sits entirely within Burnet County, but Marble Falls Independent School District’s boundary reaches further than the city limits, out into parts of neighboring Llano County. So a home just outside the city, or in a subdivision that falls under a different combination of entities, can carry a genuinely different total rate than a home downtown. This is exactly the kind of detail that gets missed when a buyer just Googles “Marble Falls property tax rate” and expects one clean answer.
Whether you’ve filed a homestead exemption
This is the single biggest lever most homeowners have, and it changed dramatically for 2025. Texas voters approved two constitutional amendments in November 2025 that raised the standard homestead exemption for school district taxes from $100,000 to $140,000, and raised the additional exemption for homeowners who are 65 or older or who have a qualifying disability from $10,000 to $60,000. Stack those together, and a homeowner 65 or older gets $200,000 knocked off the taxable value used to calculate their school tax bill alone. If you’re buying your primary residence, filing for this exemption the year after closing is one of the most consequential paperwork steps you’ll take. I cover the full filing process, deadlines, and eligibility rules in my guide to the Texas homestead exemption, and I’d genuinely encourage you to read through it before you close.
Whether you’re inside a special district or a small taxing entity
Not every Marble Falls property carries the exact same list of entities. Some subdivisions fall inside additional special districts, like a hospital district or an emergency services district, that stack on top of the city, county, and school rates. This is another reason I don’t love giving buyers a single flat number without knowing the actual address. If you’re comparing Marble Falls to other Highland Lakes towns, it’s worth knowing that how these rates stack differs meaningfully from area to area, even within the same general region.
Common Misconceptions I Hear About Marble Falls Property Taxes
“The listing agent quoted me a tax amount, so that’s what I’ll pay.” Not necessarily. The number on a listing usually reflects what the current owner paid, often with an existing homestead exemption factored in, or based on an older appraised value. Once the property sells, the appraisal district reassesses it, and your bill as a new owner, especially without a homestead exemption yet filed, can look different in year one.
“Marble Falls has one property tax rate.” As I’ve walked through above, it doesn’t. It has several rates that combine depending on your specific address.
“Property taxes are locked in once I buy.” They’re reassessed annually based on market value, and each taxing entity can adjust its own rate year to year within state-mandated caps. Your bill this year is not a guarantee of your bill five years from now, especially in a market where values have been climbing.
What I’d Actually Tell You to Do Before You Buy
Before you write an offer on a specific Marble Falls home, ask for the exact combination of taxing entities tied to that parcel, not just a citywide estimate. Burnet Central Appraisal District can tell you precisely which entities apply to a given address and what each is currently charging. I pull this for every client before we get serious about a property, because it changes the real monthly cost of ownership, sometimes by a meaningful amount.
If you’re relocating from a state with lower property taxes, or from one with an income tax and lower property taxes, budget for this rather than being surprised by it a year in. I’ve had more than one client from out of state assume Texas would be cheaper across the board because there’s no income tax, and property taxes ate into those savings more than they expected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Marble Falls property tax rate the same throughout the city?
No. It depends on which taxing entities apply to your specific address, including whether you fall under Marble Falls ISD or a neighboring district, and whether any special districts apply.
How much will I actually owe on a $400,000 home in Marble Falls?
Using the roughly 1.14% median effective rate, you’d be looking at somewhere around $4,500 a year before any homestead exemption is applied. After filing a homestead exemption, that number typically drops, sometimes substantially for homeowners 65 or older given the 2025 exemption increases. I’d rather run the actual math for your specific property than hand you a rough estimate you might mistake for a guarantee.
Do property taxes go up every year in Marble Falls?
Not automatically. Rates are set annually by each taxing entity and are subject to state caps on revenue growth. Your bill can still rise even with a flat rate if your home’s appraised value increases, which is common in a growing market like this one.
Does a homestead exemption apply the moment I close?
No. You generally need to own and occupy the home as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year to claim the exemption for that year, and you file the application afterward. I walk through the timing and paperwork in detail in my homestead exemption guide.
If you’re weighing a move to Marble Falls and want the real tax picture for a specific property before you make an offer, reach out. I’ll pull the exact entities and current rates for that address so you’re working with real numbers, not a citywide average.
Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker at Uncommon Realty.
