The Smith County Tax Office's Property Tax Departments will be closed Wednesday, July 24, so staff can participate in mandatory training. The Auto Registration Department will remain open at the Cotton Belt in Tyler and in Troup. The Property Tax Office at the Cotton Belt, as well as the substations in Lindale and Noonday, will be closed all day on Wednesday. We thank you for your understanding.

APRIL 30, 2024 PSA ABOUT PROPERTY VALUE APPRAISALS: Smith County residents have received their appraised property value notices in the mail. If you have an issue with your appraised property or wish to protest it, please call the Smith County Appraisal District at 903-510-8600.

SMITH COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES

Property owners in Smith County can visit the website https://smith.truthintaxes.com, which can be accessed for information regarding property taxes. The website includes: property values; proposed tax rates; an estimate of property taxes that would be imposed under the proposed rates; dates and locations of public hearings on the tax rates; and other useful information on taxing unit budgets, revenue, and rate calculations.

For more, click here: Property Tax Information Website

People can pay their property taxes in person, online or through the mail. People can also drop their payment off in our drop box.   People can renew their auto registration online or through the mail.

For property taxes, visit https://publictax.smith-county.com or call (903) 590-2920.

• A 2.50% convenience fee for credit card transactions with a minimum fee of $1.50.
• A Flat Fee for debit card transactions of $3.95.
• No Fee will be charged for Electronic Checks.
• Please verify all information entered. Failure to do so may result in your payment being returned unpaid by your bank.
• Information obtained will be used for the initiation of an electronic ACH debit.
• Submitting a payment electronically does not guarantee that the payment will be made if the funds cannot be received from the financial institution you specified.
• The Smith County Tax Records/Tax Payments accepts the following types of credit cards 

Property taxes and auto registrations can also be paid or renewed through the mail: Smith County Tax Office, P.O. Box 2011, Tyler, Texas 75710.

Substations

Tax Rate Information - Access the Truth in Taxation Summary for Smith County

According to the Texas Comptroller's Office there are three main parts to the property tax system in Texas:

• An appraisal district in each county sets the value of property each year. A chief appraiser is the chief administrator and operates the appraisal office. (The Smith County Appraisal District is not part of Smith County Government).
• A citizen board, called the appraisal review board, settles any disagreements between a property owner and the appraisal district about a property's value.
• Local taxing units - city, county, school and special districts - decide how much money they will spend by adopting a budget. Next, the units set tax rates that will raise the revenue necessary to fund their budgets. The adopted budgets and the tax rates set to fund the budgets determine the total amount of taxes that a person will pay.

The Property Tax Year

The Texas Comptroller's Office states the property tax year has four stages: appraising taxable property, protesting the appraised values, adopting the tax rates and collecting the taxes.

• January 1 marks the beginning of property appraisal. What a property is used for on January 1, market conditions at that time and who owns the property on that date determine whether the property is taxed, its value and who is responsible for paying the tax.
• Between January 1 and April 30, the appraisal district processes applications for tax exemptions, agricultural appraisals and other tax relief.
• Around May 15, the appraisal review board begins hearing protests from property owners who believe their property values are incorrect or who did not get exemptions or agricultural appraisal. When the ARB finishes its work, the appraisal district gives each taxing unit a list of taxable property.
• In August or September, the elected officials of each taxing unit adopt tax rates for their operations and debt payments. Several taxing units tax your property. Every property is taxed by the county and the local school district. You also may pay taxes to a city and to special districts such as hospital, junior college, water, fire and others.

Deadlines 

Tax Collection starts around October 1 as tax bills go out. Taxes are due upon receipt of the bill.

• Failure to receive a tax statement does not affect the validity of the tax, penalty or interest, the due date, the existence of a tax lien, or any procedure to collect a tax. This is according to Section 31.01 (g) of the Texas Property Tax Code.
• If you receive a tax notice and a mortgage company is responsible for payment, please write your loan number on the statement and mail to your mortgage company.
• The deadline for paying the current year tax is January 31 of the following year. Example: 2007 taxes were due by January 31, 2008.
• If you plan to mail your payment in late January, please be sure to have the post office stamp the envelope with a January postmark. Note: the date of this postmark is the date that will be used as the date of payment to your account
• Current taxes that remain unpaid as of February 1 of the year following the year in which they were imposed are delinquent and are assessed penalty and interest. Penalty and interest apply on the delinquent tax as follows: (P&I applied according to Section 33.01 of the Texas Property Tax Code).
  • February: 7%
  • March: 9%
  • April: 11%
  • May: 13%
  • June: 15%
  • July: 18% + 15% additional collection fee
  • August: 19% + 15% additional collection fee
  • September: 20% + 15% additional collection fee
• Interest continues to accrue an additional one percent each month until taxes are paid in full. Taxes not paid in full by June 30 will be referred to the delinquent tax attorney for enforced collection. This is when the additional collection fee of 15 percent will be added. At this time legal action may take place.
• The delinquent tax attorney for Smith County and all but one of its jurisdictions (TISD) is Linebarger, Goggans, Blair & Sampson, LLP. The delinquent tax attorney for Tyler Independent School District is Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott. Visit our Sheriff Sale Auctions for more information.