Tax Appraisal District of Bell County: Disabled Veteran Exemptions

The exemptions are the State's; the Texas entries explain them. The Tax Appraisal District of Bell County grants them for property in Bell County. What the district gets right. It states the 100% homestead exemption as section 11.131 does, unemployability included, with a VA award letter as proof, and says a surviving spouse qualifies. It states the partial exemption as section 11.22 does: a rating of 10% or more by VA or the service branch, Texas residence, and "any one property you own on January 1", filed by April 30 or up to five years late; the $12,000 maximum at 65 or older, for blindness in one or both eyes, or for loss of use of a limb; and the $5,000 exemption for the spouse or child of a member killed on active duty. Where it is behind the statute. Late filing. The district's exemptions page says a residence homestead exemption must be filed "no later than two years after the delinquency date", directly after its description of the 100% exemption. That is the general rule in section 11.431. Section 11.439 gives a disabled veteran five years after the delinquency date for the 100% homestead and for the donated homestead (but not the surviving spouse). A veteran who missed the two years should still apply and cite section 11.439. Missing exemptions. The page describes the first responder line-of-duty exemption but not the one for the surviving spouse of a service member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty (section 11.133), nor the 2025 exemption for the surviving spouse of a veteran who died of a condition presumed service-connected (section 11.136). Both are total homestead exemptions; see the Texas entries. The district's own exemption code list does carry the donated homestead (11.132). Offices: 411 E. Central Avenue, Belton (254-939-5841); 301 Priest Drive, Killeen (254-634-9752); 205 E. Central Avenue, Temple (254-771-1108).