Most Houston homeowners have never heard of this one. It is not the homestead exemption, it is not a protest, and it has nothing to do with the May deadline you already missed. It is a temporary disaster exemption, written into the Texas Tax Code, and it exists precisely for the situation a lot of Harris County families are in right now: the storms came, the water got in, the repairs are half-finished, and the October tax bill is still going to arrive as if nothing happened.
The one-line version: if a disaster the governor declared damaged your property by 15% or more, you can ask HCAD to take a slice of your appraised value off for 2026. You ask on Form 50-312. In Harris County the application is due no later than September 28, 2026.
1. What this actually is
Texas Tax Code §11.35 — "Temporary Exemption for Qualified Property Damaged by Disaster" — says that qualified property which is at least 15 percent damaged by a disaster, in an area the governor has declared a disaster area, is entitled to an exemption of part of its appraised value.
Three things have to line up. All three, not two:
| The test | What it means for a homeowner |
|---|
| Qualified property | The Tax Code lists three kinds: an improvement to real property (your house, garage, outbuildings), certain manufactured homes used as a dwelling, and tangible personal property used to produce income (business equipment). Note what is not on the list — the land itself. |
| In a declared disaster area | The governor has to have declared your county a disaster area. Governor Abbott's proclamation signed June 15, 2026 covers 101 counties, and Harris County is on the list. |
| At least 15% damaged | Physical damage. "Damage" is defined in the statute as physical damage — not lost rent, not stress, not the drop in what you think your house is now worth. The chief appraiser decides the percentage, not you. |
Why this matters more than usual in 2026. The protest deadline was May 15. Values are on their way to being certified. For most Harris County homeowners there is no lever left this year that changes the number on the October bill. This is the exception — and almost nobody applies for it, because almost nobody knows it is there.
2. It is separate from your homestead — nothing gets traded away
This is the single most common worry, so let's kill it early. The disaster exemption lives in §11.35. The residence homestead exemption lives in §11.13. They are different exemptions in different sections of the same code, and you can hold both at the same time.
- Applying does not cancel your homestead. It is an additional exemption, not a substitute.
- It does not touch your over-65, disability, or veteran exemptions either.
- It does not replace a protest, and it is not an appeal of your value. It is its own application with its own form and its own deadline.
- It is temporary. Your homestead keeps going year after year. This one expires — see section 7.
3. The damage levels — and what each one is worth
You do not pick your own level. When your application arrives, the chief appraiser determines whether the property is at least 15% damaged and then assigns a damage assessment rating of Level I through IV. That rating sets the exemption percentage. These are the state's published tiers:
| Level | Damage | What it looks like | Exemption |
|---|
| I | 15% to under 30% | Minimal damage; the property can still be used as intended. | 15% |
| II | 30% to under 60% | Nonstructural damage — roof, walls, foundation or mechanical components — and a waterline less than 18 inches above the floor. | 30% |
| III | 60% to under 100% | Significant structural damage needing extensive repair, or a waterline 18 inches or more above the floor. | 60% |
| IV | 100% | Total loss; repair is not feasible. | 100% |
Read the 18-inch line again. That single measurement is the difference between a 30% exemption and a 60% one. If water came into your house, and you can still see or photograph where it stopped on the wall, measure it from the floor and photograph the tape measure in place. Do it before the drywall gets replaced. Nobody can reconstruct that number for you afterward.
4. What it is actually worth — including the part people get wrong
The exemption is not "15% off your tax bill." Two reductions happen in order.
- First, the percentage. The exemption amount is the appraised value of the damaged property multiplied by the level's percentage — 15%, 30%, 60% or 100%.
- Then, the proration. Because the disaster happened partway through the year, the law cuts the amount down to the share of the tax year that was left. The fraction is the number of days remaining in the tax year after the governor's declaration, over 365.
For a disaster declared June 15, 2026, that leftover share is a little over half the year — roughly 200 of 365 days, about 55%.
Rough illustration: a house whose improvement is appraised at $250,000, assigned Level II. $250,000 × 30% = $75,000. Prorated: $75,000 × (200 ÷ 365) ≈ $41,000 knocked off the appraised value for 2026. What that saves you in dollars depends on your combined tax rate — HCAD and your tax office do that arithmetic, not you.
It is not life-changing money for a Level I. For a Level III on a flooded house, it is real.
5. How to apply, step by step
- Get Form 50-312 — "Temporary Exemption Property Damaged by Disaster." HCAD publishes it at hcad.org under FORMS → ALL FORMS → General Information. It is also on the Comptroller's site at comptroller.texas.gov/forms/50-312.pdf. The form is free. Anyone charging you for the form itself is charging you for nothing.
- Have your HCAD account number ready. It is on your appraisal notice and on your tax statement, and you can look it up by address on HCAD's site.
- Attach evidence of the damage. The statute lets the chief appraiser rely on a county emergency management authority, FEMA, "or any other source the chief appraiser considers appropriate." So give them sources. What helps most:
- Dated photographs — wide shots and close-ups, inside and out, and the waterline with a tape measure against it.
- Written repair estimates or contractor bids. A number on letterhead beats a description every time.
- Your insurance adjuster's report or claim summary, and the claim number.
- FEMA registration number if you registered.
- Receipts for remediation, mucking out, or emergency repairs already done.
- Mail it to the right place. HCAD says to use the address printed at the top left of the form:
Harris Central Appraisal District, Information and Assistance Division, P.O. Box 922012, Houston, Texas 77292-2012.
That is a different address from the ARB evidence box and from the Northwest Freeway street address — use the one above for this form.
- Keep a complete copy of everything you send, and send it in a way that gives you proof of the mailing date. The deadline is a hard one.
- If you get stuck, call. HCAD's information center is (713) 957-7800, or use the web form on hcad.org under CONTACT US → ACCOUNT QUESTIONS. Note the date you called and who you spoke to.
Do not wait for the repairs to finish before you apply. The deadline runs from the governor's declaration, not from the day your contractor is done. Photograph the damage now, apply now, and keep repairing. If you tear everything out first and apply in September with a rebuilt house and no photographs, you have made the chief appraiser's job impossible.
6. The deadline — and where the 105 days comes from
The date is not something HCAD invented. Texas Tax Code §11.43(s) says a person who qualifies for the §11.35 exemption "must apply for the exemption not later than the 105th day after the date the governor declares the area in which the person's qualified property is located to be a disaster area."
Governor Abbott signed the proclamation on June 15, 2026. Count 105 days forward and you land on September 28, 2026 — which is exactly the date HCAD published in its own news release on June 17, 2026.
Miss it and there is no automatic second chance. The same subsection lets the chief appraiser extend the deadline "for good cause shown," but that is a discretionary favor you have to ask for and justify — not a right. Treat September 28 as final.
A note on the second declaration, and what we can and cannot tell you. Governor Abbott signed a
second disaster proclamation on
July 14, 2026 (Proclamation 41-4296), covering 59 counties after the storms that began July 13.
Harris County is named in it — we confirmed that in the text published by the Texas Secretary of State in the Texas Register. Read together with §11.43(s), a July 14 declaration would put its own 105-day deadline at
October 27, 2026 for damage caused by that later event.
What we
cannot tell you is how HCAD will handle it. As of this writing HCAD has published nothing about the July declaration, no separate deadline, and no guidance on how the two events interact for a property damaged in both.
So do not plan around October 27. If your damage came from the June storms, September 28 is your date. If your damage came from the July storms, apply as early as you can and call
(713) 957-7800 to confirm which declaration HCAD is applying to your account. We will update this page when HCAD publishes something.
7. What happens after you apply
- The chief appraiser decides. They determine whether the property is at least 15% damaged and assign the damage level. They may rely on emergency-management data, FEMA, or anything else they consider appropriate — including what you sent.
- You get written notice. The chief appraiser must send written notice of approval, modification or denial no later than five days after making the determination.
- If the bill has already been calculated, it gets fixed. Under §11.35(j), if you qualify after the tax was calculated, the assessor recalculates and corrects the tax roll. If the bill was mailed but not paid, a corrected bill goes out. If you already paid, you get a refund of the overpayment — with no interest.
- It ends. Under §11.35(k) the exemption expires on January 1 of the first tax year in which the property is reappraised. HCAD reappraises Harris County property on a regular cycle, so in practice treat this as relief for the 2026 bill and not an ongoing discount.
- If you are denied, you can protest the denial to the Appraisal Review Board the same way you would protest a value. Read our full guide and our hearing walkthrough before you do.
8. The honest limits
Read this part. We are not attorneys and not tax agents. HCAD decides every one of these applications — we cannot influence the outcome, we cannot promise you a level, and we cannot promise you qualify at all. Plenty of properties took real damage and still land under 15%. This page is general information for Harris County homeowners, not legal or tax advice.
- We do not file it for you. Form 50-312 is free from HCAD and the Comptroller, and you send it yourself so that your own signature and your own evidence are on the record.
- Exemption help here is free — same as homestead, over-65 and veteran. Our $39 kit is the do-it-yourself protest kit, a completely different product, and you do not need it for this.
- The 15% threshold is a real threshold. A few damaged shingles and a soaked rug is not a Level I. Be accurate. An application that oversells the damage costs you credibility on everything else in the file.
- Land is not covered. The exemption applies to the improvement, not the lot.
- Deadlines and amounts can change. Verify with HCAD or the Comptroller before you send anything.
Who to call, and where to send it
| What you need | Where |
|---|
| Mail Form 50-312 (this exemption) | Harris Central Appraisal District, Information and Assistance Division, PO Box 922012, Houston, TX 77292-2012 |
| Questions, account number, "did you get my form?" | HCAD Information Center — (713) 957-7800 |
| Online contact | hcad.org → CONTACT US → ACCOUNT QUESTIONS |
| Download the form | comptroller.texas.gov/forms/50-312.pdf, or hcad.org → FORMS → ALL FORMS → General Information |
| HCAD in person / drop-off | HCAD, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77040-6305 |
| The rules in the state's own words | Comptroller — Property Taxes in Disaster Areas |
Common questions
My insurance is covering the repairs. Can I still apply?
Yes. Nothing in §11.35 conditions the exemption on whether you have insurance or how much it pays. The test is physical damage to qualified property in a declared disaster area. Your adjuster's report is useful evidence, not a disqualifier.
I rent the house out. Does that matter?
The exemption is for qualified property, which includes an improvement to real property — it is not limited to your homestead. A rented house is still an improvement to real property in a declared disaster area. Whether it qualifies still comes down to the 15% damage finding by the chief appraiser.
Do I have to apply again next year?
No — and you cannot. It is a temporary exemption that expires on January 1 of the first tax year in which the property is reappraised. It is not an annual filing.
What if I already paid my 2026 taxes when the exemption is granted?
Under §11.35(j) the tax collector refunds the amount by which your payment exceeded the corrected tax. No interest is paid on the refund, but you do get the money back.
Should I file this instead of protesting next year?
Neither replaces the other. This one helps your 2026 bill. Protesting is an annual right that resets every January — put the recheck on your calendar for next spring regardless of how this application turns out.
Sources: Harris Central Appraisal District news release 26-09, "HCAD Reminds Property Owners of Disaster Exemption," June 17, 2026; Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Taxes in Disaster Areas and During Droughts; Texas Tax Code §11.35 and §11.43(s); Governor's Proclamations 41-4290 (signed June 15, 2026) and 41-4296 (signed July 14, 2026), as published by the Texas Secretary of State in the Texas Register, June 26, 2026 and July 24, 2026. This page is general information for Harris County property owners, not legal or tax advice. Deadlines and amounts can change — verify with HCAD or the Comptroller before you file.