Senior Tax Freeze and Exemption

The City offers a $30,000 senior tax exemption as well as a senior tax freeze, Rowlett is still one of only seven Dallas County cities that offer the tax freeze. The exemption and freeze is a great way to help seniors stay in their Rowlett home, even in times of increasing home valuations. 

1. What is the senior tax freeze? 
The freeze sets a ceiling on the amount of actual taxes the person will ever pay to the City of Rowlett - the frozen amount is determined in the first year they obtain the senior exemption. They will never pay more than that amount, regardless of what happens to their assessed value and regardless of what happens to the tax rate. They may pay less - if the assessed value and/or the tax rate goes down. 

2. What is the senior tax exemption? 
The $30,000 exemption means the year that a person becomes 65, they are given a $30,000 exemption off of their home's assessed value. The exemption amount can be changed, but the tax freeze is forever. In 2004, the City set the senior tax exemption at $67,000, the third highest rate in Dallas County. In addition, the City adopted the freeze (again the freeze can never be changed) and was one of only seven cities in Dallas County to provide the senior tax freeze. 

3. How does this affect the City? 
Property tax exemptions and tax freezes provided in Rowlett are some of the most beneficial in the area. Homestead, veterans, disabled, and over 65 exemptions in FY2023 will total almost $296 million in taxable value. When combined with the over 65 tax freeze of nearly $488 million, the total impact of exemptions and the freeze totals over $783 million. This represents $5.5 million in tax revenue that will be removed from the tax rolls and therefore not available to meet the needs of a growing population. The impact of the exemptions and the freeze is equivalent to 9.0 cents on the tax rate.


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1. NTMWD Membership
2. North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) Cost of Service Review
3. Sapphire Bay
4. Economic Development
5. Senior Tax Freeze and Exemption
6. Utility Bills
7. Downtown Rowlett
8. Liquor Stores
9. Scenic Point Park
10. Rowlett Community Centre
11. State Highway 66 Median Beautification Project
12. Rowlett Public Library
13. Rental Housing Standards Program
14. Housing Finance Corporation
15. Multi-Family Developments