One of the primary responsibilities of the Office of Leo Vasquez, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar, is to collect, record and disburse property taxes. The Tax Office maintains approximately 1.44 million tax accounts and collects property taxes for more than 60 taxing entities, including Harris County. For the 2009 tax year, the Tax Office expects to collect over $4 billion of property tax payments.

When the certified tax roll is received from the Harris County Appraisal District, the property values are loaded on the Tax Office's internally developed computer system. The certified tax roll and the tax rates adopted by each taxing jurisdiction are used to levy the current property taxes in October/November of each year. Tax statements are then generated and mailed to property owners and mortgage companies.

Current taxes that remain unpaid as of February 1 of the year following the year in which imposed are delinquent and are assessed penalty and interest. Taxes that remain delinquent on business personal property may incur additional collection fees after April 1st. Delinquent taxes on real property incur the additional collection fee on July 1. Most tax payments are mailed to a lock box at the County depository. The payments are scanned and, after being recorded and deposited, the Tax Office disburses the taxes to the various taxing entities for which it serves as collector.

The Tax Office accepts partial property tax payments online. Property taxpayers may use multiple credit cards or multiple e-Checks to pay their taxes. Any combination of credit cards and/or e-Checks also may be used for payment.

Click this link to pay your property taxes by credit card or e-Check.