Cross Creek Ranch Homeowners: What Fort Bend County’s Proposed 2026 Tax Rate Could Mean
For Fort Bend County homeowners trying to anticipate their property tax bills, the county’s proposed 2026 tax rate comes with an important distinction: the rate itself would stay the same as last year, but that does not necessarily mean every homeowner’s county tax bill will stay the same.
On Aug. 13, Fort Bend County Commissioners Court moved forward with a proposed county property tax rate of $0.412 per $100 of taxable value. The Fort Bend County Drainage District separately proposed a rate of $0.010 per $100, bringing the combined proposed county and drainage rate to $0.422 per $100 of taxable value.
That combined 42.2-cent rate is unchanged from both 2025 and 2024, according to the county’s 2026 tax-rate summary.
For residents of Cross Creek Ranch, however, the proposed rate is only one part of the property-tax equation. What an individual homeowner ultimately pays depends on that property’s taxable value, applicable exemptions and the rates adopted by the other taxing entities that appear on the property’s tax bill.
Why an Unchanged Tax Rate Can Still Produce Different Tax Bills
Property taxes are calculated using a property’s taxable value and the tax rate adopted by each applicable taxing entity.
That means an unchanged rate does not automatically result in an unchanged bill if a property’s taxable value changes.
Fort Bend Central Appraisal District reported in April that the market value of all residential properties in Fort Bend County increased by about 3.88% from 2025 to 2026. That is a countywide figure and does not mean every individual home increased by 3.88%. Some properties may have increased more, some less, and others may have declined.
FBCAD also reported that some homeowners with homestead exemptions could see taxable values increase by as much as the state’s 10% homestead limitation because prior market-value increases were previously held back by the cap. The appraisal district described 2026 as another potential “cap catch-up” year for some properties.
For Cross Creek Ranch homeowners, that makes the taxable value listed for their individual property more useful than relying on a countywide average.
What Fort Bend County Is Proposing
The county’s current recommendation breaks the $0.412 county rate into three portions:
- General Fund: $0.294236
- Road and Bridge Fund: $0.010000
- Interest and Sinking Fund: $0.107764
The separate Fort Bend County Drainage District proposal includes:
- Maintenance Fund: $0.004443
- Interest and Sinking Fund: $0.005557
Together, those rates would total $0.422 per $100 of taxable value. (AgendaLink)
The rate has been proposed, but it had not received final adoption as of Aug. 14, 2026.
Why Residents May Hear the Proposal Described as a “Tax Increase”
Another figure in the county’s tax-rate process is the no-new-revenue rate, often abbreviated NNR.
Fort Bend County’s official tax-rate summary calculates the 2026 no-new-revenue rate at $0.395979 for the county and $0.009609 for the Drainage District. Combined, that equals $0.405588 per $100 of taxable value.
The proposed combined rate of $0.422 is approximately 4.05% above the combined no-new-revenue rate.
That is why residents may see official county documents refer to a proposal to “increase the tax rate,” even though the proposed nominal rate of 42.2 cents is unchanged from last year. The no-new-revenue rate is a state-defined calculation designed to estimate the rate that would generally generate the same property-tax revenue from properties taxed in both years, subject to the state’s calculation rules.
In other words, these two statements can both be true: Fort Bend County is proposing the same combined tax rate as last year, while the proposed rate is also above this year’s calculated no-new-revenue rate.
That distinction matters because simply saying the county is “raising the tax rate” could give homeowners the mistaken impression that the 42.2-cent figure itself is increasing from 2025. It is not.
What Could the Proposed Rate Mean for an Individual Home?
At the proposed combined county and Drainage District rate, a property with a $400,000 taxable value would generate approximately $1,688 in county and drainage taxes.
That is only an illustration of the math. It is not an estimate of what a particular homeowner’s bill will be.
A complete Fort Bend County property-tax bill can include taxes from multiple entities, potentially including a school district, city, municipal utility district, emergency services district or other local taxing jurisdiction. Each entity establishes its own rate.
Likewise, whether a homeowner pays more, less or approximately the same county tax amount as last year will depend largely on how that homeowner’s taxable value changed.
A Sept. 10 Decision Is Expected
Fort Bend County scheduled a public hearing on the proposed county tax rate for Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, at 1 p.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom at the Fort Bend County Historic Courthouse, 401 Jackson Street in Richmond. The Drainage District scheduled its tax-rate hearing for the same time and location.
The county has also scheduled public hearings on its proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, and 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. The county’s official notice says residents may provide written or oral comments and ask questions about the proposed budget. (AgendaLink)
Final consideration of the tax rate is expected Sept. 10.
An Ongoing Commissioners Court Dispute Adds Uncertainty
The tax-rate process is unfolding while Fort Bend County Commissioners Court is dealing with an unresolved dispute over the authority of Daniel Wong to continue serving as acting county judge.
Commissioners Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy have not been participating in recent Commissioners Court meetings while challenging Wong’s authority to preside. Wong maintains that he remains authorized to serve while the matter proceeds through the courts. No final judicial ruling resolving that dispute had been issued as of Aug. 14.
The disagreement matters to the tax-rate process because county officials have said four members of Commissioners Court are needed to adopt the property tax rate.
County finance officials have warned that if the court cannot assemble the required number of members to adopt the proposed rate, the county could ultimately have to use the lower no-new-revenue rate. Officials estimate that scenario would reduce revenue included in the proposed FY 2027 budget by approximately $21 million.
That does not mean Fort Bend County has already lost $21 million, nor does it mean projects or employee compensation have already been cut.
Rather, county finance officials have said that if the proposed rate cannot be adopted, the resulting revenue difference could require adjustments to the proposed budget. Among the possibilities officials have identified are eliminating a proposed roughly 3% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees and delaying some road, park and flood-control projects.
Those remain potential consequences tied to a future budget scenario, not final decisions.
What Would the Lower Rate Mean for Homeowners?
There is another side of that equation for taxpayers.
If the county ultimately used the lower no-new-revenue rate instead of the proposed 42.2-cent combined rate, the county and drainage portion of an individual property owner’s bill would generally be lower than it would be under the proposed rate, assuming the same taxable value.
ABC13 reported that county finance officials used an average homestead taxable value of $322,324 to illustrate the difference. At that taxable value, officials estimated approximately $1,384 under the proposed rate compared with about $1,330 under the no-new-revenue scenario — a difference of roughly $54 for the county portion used in their example.
Again, that is a county-provided example, not a prediction for every Fort Bend County homeowner.
Individual results will vary according to taxable value and exemptions.
What Cross Creek Ranch Homeowners Can Do Now
For homeowners who want to understand their own situation before the September vote, the best place to begin is their individual 2026 appraisal record.
Review the property's taxable value, rather than market value alone, and confirm that eligible exemptions are reflected on the account. FBCAD provides property information and exemption records through its online property-search system.
It is also useful to remember the distinction among market value, taxable value and tax rate. They are related, but they are not interchangeable.
As of Aug. 14, the clearest takeaway is this: Fort Bend County is proposing to maintain the same combined county and Drainage District tax rate used last year, but because that rate is above the 2026 no-new-revenue rate, it would generate more revenue than the no-new-revenue benchmark. Whether an individual homeowner’s county tax bill rises or falls depends on that homeowner’s taxable value and exemptions.
The Sept. 10 tax-rate decision — along with the unresolved Commissioners Court dispute — will determine what rate ultimately moves forward.
My Neighborhood News will continue following the Fort Bend County budget and property-tax process as decisions are finalized, with a focus on what they mean for homeowners and neighborhoods across the county.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.
