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PROPERTY TAX:
The Victoria County Appraisal District identifies property to be taxed, determines its appraised
value, whether to grant exemptions, the taxable owner and address, and which taxing
jurisdictions may tax the property. For information on VALUES, to file for an EXEMPTION,
or to report changes in OWNERSHIP or ADDRESS, please call the Appraisal District at 361-
576-3621. Their address is 2805 N Navarro, Ste 300, Victoria, TX 77901. According to the state
law, the Victoria County Appraisal District (CAD) is responsible for the appraisal of all property
within the District. The Tax Assessor Collector is responsible for the billing and collection of
taxes, which are based on the value placed on each property by CAD. The tax rate is adopted by
each of the taxing jurisdictions.
Answers to commonly asked questions:
1. All exemptions are to be filed at the Victoria County Appraisal District at the above
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address. Exemption forms need to be filed before May 1 .
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2. Property tax bills are mailed on October 1 or as soon thereafter as possible to the
owner of record (as of January 1). Taxes are due upon receipt. Any tax not paid before
February 1 will be considered delinquent and begin accruing penalty and interest. If you
do not receive your tax statement by the middle of October, call the tax office. If you
mail a check for payment of your taxes, please return the original statement(s) if possible.
If not returning statement(s) be sure to write account number(s) on your check. If you
mail your payment for your taxes, be sure to have the envelope postmarked by January
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31 or before. If you mail late in the day on January 31 , the Post Office may postmark
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your envelope February 1 and it will be considered late and will be charged penalty and
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interest. Pay by January 31 to avoid accruing penalty and interest charges. The tax
collector does not have legal authority to forgive or waive any penalty or interest charge
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on an unpaid tax. Penalty is imposed at the statutory rate of 6% on penalty on the 1 day
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of the delinquency month, and will increase 1% on the 1 day each month thereafter,
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reaching 12% maximum on July 1 . Interest is imposed at the statutory rate of 1% on the
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1 day of delinquency and will increase 1% each month thereafter.
Delinquent Tax Penalty & Interest Schedule
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Taxes not paid by January 31 will increase as follows:
February 6% penalty + 1% interest = 7%
March 7% penalty + 2% interest = 9%
April 8% penalty + 3 % interest = 11%
May 9% penalty + 4% interest = 13%
June 10%penalty + 5%interest = 15%
July 12%penalty + 6%interest = 18%
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Accounts not paid in full by June 30 of the year in which they become delinquent will be
actively collected by the tax attorney and will incur an additional penalty equal to 15% of the
total taxes, penalties and interest due.
3. Payment of someone else’s property tax does not give any legal right to the property.
Property has to be purchased through the legal channels in order to obtain property
ownership. Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP assists the county in the
collection of delinquent taxes and the tax sale properties. The tax attorney usually holds
at least four tax sales per year. The properties to be sold in the sale are listed in the
Victoria Advocate prior to the sale. Lists of the properties are also available in our office
and at the tax attorney’s office. Their phone number is 361-573-9666 and 361-578-6010.
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4. State law automatically places a tax lien on property on January 1 of each year to
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ensure that taxes are paid. The person who owned the property on January 1 of the tax
year is personally liable for the tax even if he/she sold the property during the year. The
taxes are not prorated; therefore the taxes are between the buyer and seller. Be sure to
contact the tax office for tax amount. Taxes do follow the property when it is real estate.
5. If your taxes are to be paid by a mortgage company and you received the statement,
write your loan number on the statement and mail it to your mortgage company to pay.
Also if you paid your mortgage off or refinanced with another company your old
mortgage company might still request your statement and you might want to request
another statement, just contact our office.
6. In making a payment(s) for taxes we accept, cash, money order, traveler’s checks,
cashier check, check and credit card.
When paying by personal check: The driver’s license number of the person signing the
check and a phone number where he or she could be reached, is needed.
When paying by credit card: Victoria County is prohibited by law from paying the
credit card processing fees incurred when a taxpayer chooses to pay his or her taxes by
credit card. In order to provide this convenience, Victoria County has contracted with a
third party. The convenience fee covers the cost of this service. No part of this fee is
retained by Victoria County.
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Partial payments are accepted; however, any remaining amount not paid by January 31
will begin accruing penalty and interest.
7. Our office accepts advance payments toward the upcoming tax. These are called
escrow payments and is non-interest bearing payments that will be applied to your tax due
after the tax statements are mailed and an additional bill will be issued for the difference
between what was paid and what is due.
8. Taxpayers with an Over 65 or Disabled Person on their homestead (only) have the
option to pay their taxes in 4 payments, due 60 days apart each, with no penalty or interest
AS LONG AS ALL PAYMENTS ARE MADE TIMELY, according to the payment
schedule. You can request the 4-pay plan by signing our contract with the agreement of
paying at least ¼ of the payment by January 31, by March 31, by May 31 and by July 31.
If an installment is missed, the full 6% penalty imposed and interest begins to accrue.
9. Mobile homes are taxable property and are to be taxed in the county in which they were
located on January 1.
10. No deeds are filed in the tax office. All deeds must be filed in the County Clerk’s
Office and all property rendered for taxation at the Appraisal District Office. We have
limited legal descriptions and field notes and surveys are usually filed at the County
Clerk’s Office. Also, all liens other than property tax liens are filed at the County Clerk’s
Office.
11. We are able to set up installment agreements for delinquent tax due. By law,
installment agreements are not to exceed 36 months and annual taxes must be paid as they
come due in addition to the monthly payments. There is a misconception that an
installment agreement stops the penalty, interest and attorney fees. This is not true. The
installment agreement protects the owner of the property from losing his/her property in a
tax sale, as long as the payments are made consistently and timely with no lapse.
12. Once a lawsuit is filed for delinquent taxes, the property owner incurs extra costs. In
addition the to tax due, court costs, abstract fees, sheriff’s costs and advertising costs may
also be due depending on how far the tax attorneys have taken the case.
