Important Notice
The 2025 appraised values in Colorado County are now finalized.
The Colorado County Appraisal District (CAD) has started the reappraisal and inspection process for Tax Year 2026.
As part of this process, appraisers will be out across the county conducting inspections. They will:
The USPS has a new rule, effective December 24, 2025, that changes postmark meaning: it now reflects the date mail is first processed at a regional facility, not when you dropped it off, potentially causing time-sensitive mail (like ballots, taxes) to be considered late. This shift, part of their cost-cutting plan, means a mailer could miss a deadline even if mailed days earlier. To ensure timely dating, mail crucial items at the post office counter and request a hand-stamped postmark or send them days ahead of the deadline.
NEWS RELEASE
Property owners should soon start receiving appraisal notices for the 2025 tax year.
You may soon receive an appraisal notice from the Colorado County Appraisal District. The appraisal district will begin mailing out appraisal notices on April 30, 2025. Your city, county, school district and other local taxing units will use the appraisal district’s value to set your 2025 property taxes.
Under Texas Law, local appraisal districts must notify property owners about changes in their property’s value. The notice contains valuable information about the property’s location, ownership and property tax exemptions that apply to the property. It must also include a web address where tax information for the property can be found.
Property owners who disagree with their property’s appraised value, the exemptions or any other action by the appraisal district have the right to appeal to the Colorado County Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The ARB is an independent panel of citizens responsible for hearing and settling property owner protests. The notice of appraised value includes instructions on how and when to file a protest, a protest form, a statement about the availability of an informal conference prior to attending a protest hearing and a copy of the Comptroller’s Taxpayer Assistance Pamphlet. The deadline for filing an ARB protest in Colorado County is May 30, 2025. Faxed and emailed Notice of Protests are not accepted. Late protests will be determined by the postmarked date. Protests’ hearings will begin on June 2, 2025.
The Comptroller’s publication, Taxpayer Assistance Pamphlet, explains in detail how to protest your property appraisal, what issues the ARB can consider and what to expect during a protest hearing. It also discusses the function of a taxpayer liaison officer, the option to request limited binding arbitration to compel the ARB or chief appraiser to comply with a procedural requirement and the option of taking your case to district court, the State Office of Administrative Hearings or regular binding arbitration if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your ARB hearing.
The Taxpayer Assistance Pamphlet is available from the Colorado County Appraisal District at 106 Cardinal Lane, Columbus, Texas. For any questions feel free to contact us at (979) 732-8222. This publication is also available on the Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division’s website at comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/.
Colorado County Appraisal District is required by Texas Property Tax Code Section 25.19 to deliver a notice of appraised value to property owners if:
The notice indicates the property status as of January 1, 2025. Colorado County Appraisal District has not received correspondence from state officials authorizing any deviation from the Texas Property Tax Code regarding matters subject to Section 25.19.
2026 Circuit Breaker Limitation – Property Tax Code Section 23.231
Beginning in 2024, real property valued at $5,000,000 or less will benefit from a 20% limitation on the net appraised value of the property used to calculate your taxes, with the exclusion of land receiving the agriculture-use special appraisal and homestead properties that already receive the 10% homestead limitation.
The circuit breaker provision limits the amount the appraisal district can increase your property value. The appraised value of qualifying real property is limited to an increase of no more than 20% per year unless new improvements, excluding ordinary maintenance, have been made. This limitation takes effect on January 1 of the tax year following the first tax year in which the owner owns the property. If you owned your property as of January 1, 2023, you received this appraised value limitation in 2024. You must own the property for at least one full calendar year (January through December) before you are eligible for a 20% limitation. Your property will now reflect two values:
For example, the appraised value of your qualifying real property was $100,000 last year. This year the Appraisal District appraises your property at $125,000. No new improvements or additions have been made to the property since last year. The circuit breaker value is calculated as follows:
Step 1: $100,000 x 20% = $20,000
Step 2: 100,000 + $20,000 = $120,000
Your taxes will be based on the circuit breaker value of $120,000; however, the market value of your property will remain at $125,000.
The circuit breaker limitation expires on January 1 of the first tax year that the owner no longer owns the property. Should you sell your property, the limitation will be removed, and the tax base will increase to the property’s current market value until the new owner is eligible for the same benefit.
The Texas Legislature has currently only authorized the circuit breaker limitation for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 tax years. The appraised value the circuit breaker applied to was set at $5,000,000 or less for 2024. For 2025, the appraised value limit was increased to $5,160,000. For 2026, the appraised value limit was increased to $5,320,000.
You are not required to submit an application to receive a circuit breaker limitation. The appraisal district will automatically apply and calculate these benefits every year.
To find a link to your local property tax database on which you can easily access information regarding your property taxes, including information regarding the amount of taxes that each entity that taxes your property will impose if the entity adopts its proposed tax rate. Your local property tax database will be updated regularly during August and September as local elected officials propose and adopt the property tax rates that will determine how much you pay in property taxes.
You may request the same information from the assessor of each taxing unit for your property, by requesting their contact information from your county’s assessor at:
County’s Assessor Marcella Pflughaupt, RTA
Contact Name: Marcella Pflughaupt
Address: 106 Cardinal Lane Columbus, Texas 78934
Phone Number: 979-732-8222 Ext. 215
There is a notification for any updates to the property tax database. Click on “Subscribe to Notifications” for tax updates on the top right corner of your account page, enter your email address and then click confirm.
This site provides general information about the District and the ad valorem property tax system in Texas, as well as information regarding specific properties within the District.
The Colorado County Appraisal District (CCAD) is a political subdivision of the State of Texas, established and centralized in 1982 to discover and appraise property for ad valorem tax purposes for each taxing unit within the District’s boundaries. The Colorado County Appraisal District is governed by a board of directors elected by the local taxing units. The duties and obligations of appraisal districts are set forth by the Texas Property Tax Code.
The CCAD is responsible for administering the laws of the Texas Property Tax Code and operates under the standards and guidelines of:
The Appraisal Process
Residence Homestead Exemption and Limitation on Appraised Value for Residence Homesteads
Productivity Appraisal Reduces Property Taxes on Farm and Ranches
| Colorado County | Coastal Bend Groundwater Conservation District |
| Columbus ISD | Colorado County Groundwater Conservation District |
| Hallettsville ISD | Colorado County Water Control & Improvement District #2 (Garwood Water District) |
| Rice CISD | Glidden Fresh Water Supply District #1 |
| Weimar ISD | Rice Hospital District |
| City of Columbus | |
| City of Eagle Lake | |
| City of Weimar |