Travis Bunn

Founder, AppealDesk · Published March 1, 2026

How Much Can Property Taxes Increase in Arkansas? 2026 Complete Guide

Updated July 2026

How Much Can My Property Taxes Increase Per Year in Arkansas?

For most Arkansas homeowners, the practical answer is that the taxable assessed value of your primary residence cannot climb more than 5% in a single year after a countywide reappraisal. If the reappraisal says your home's market value jumped 25%, the county cannot hand you that whole increase at once. Instead, your taxable value steps up 5% per year until it catches up to the full assessed value. Non-homestead property, such as rentals, second homes, and commercial parcels, gets the same treatment with a 10% annual ceiling.

That said, your actual dollar bill can still move for reasons the cap does not touch: voters can approve new millage, a school district can pass a bond issue, or you can lose a credit or freeze you previously qualified for. And if you built an addition or bought new construction, the caps do not apply at all to that new value. The 5% and 10% limits govern how fast an existing, unchanged property's taxable value phases in after reappraisal. Nothing more.

Arkansas Amendment 79 Explained: The 5% and 10% Caps

Amendment 79 is the foundation of Arkansas homeowner property tax relief. Voters approved it in 2000 and it took effect in 2001, in the wake of reappraisals that were producing sudden, painful jumps in tax bills. It does three big things.

First, the caps. After a countywide reappraisal, the annual increase in a property's taxable assessed value is limited to 5% per year for a homestead and 10% per year for non-homestead property, until the taxable value reaches the full assessed value. The caps definitively do not apply to newly discovered property, new construction, or substantial improvements. If you add a garage, the value of that garage lands on the rolls immediately.

Second, a freeze for older and disabled homeowners. The homestead of a person who is 65 or older, or who is disabled, is assessed at the lower of its value when purchased or constructed, when the owner became disabled, or when the owner turned 65. For qualifying homeowners, the assessed value simply stops rising. More on that below.

Third, the Homestead Tax Credit, a dollar-for-dollar credit against the tax bill on your principal residence. It stood at $425 for years, and after back-to-back increases in 2024 and 2025 it now stands at $600. That is the single biggest recent change in Arkansas property taxes, and it gets its own section below.

Why Arkansas Property Owners Face Higher Taxes After County Reappraisals

Arkansas counties reappraise on a cycle, commonly every 3 or 5 years, and state law requires a countywide reappraisal at least once every 5 years. Between reappraisals your value mostly sits still, so the reappraisal year is when years of market appreciation hit the rolls all at once. That is exactly the moment Amendment 79 was written for: instead of absorbing the full jump in one bill, a homestead's taxable value phases in at 5% per year.

The reappraisal year is also the moment Amendment 59 kicks in on the rate side. When a countywide reappraisal raises the aggregate taxable value of real and personal property in a taxing unit by 10% or more over the prior year, that unit must roll back its millage rates so its revenue from existing property does not rise more than 10%. In plain terms, a reappraisal is not supposed to be a windfall for local government. Values go up, rates come down, and the two constraints together keep the reappraisal shock manageable.

Here is the catch. Both protections assume the number the county put on your home is right. The cap phases in whatever the reappraisal produced, accurate or not. If the mass-appraisal model overvalued your house by 15%, you will pay taxes on that overvaluation, just spread out over a few years.

What Is Arkansas's Property Tax Rate in 2026?

Arkansas does not have one property tax rate. Your bill is built from two pieces: a statewide assessment ratio and a local millage rate. The assessment ratio is fixed by law: property is assessed at 20% of its appraised market value. A home the county appraises at $300,000 therefore has an assessed value of $60,000, and only that $60,000 is taxed.

The millage rate is set locally by your county, city, and school district, and it varies significantly from one district to the next. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. To make the arithmetic concrete: if your combined local millage were 45 mills, that $300,000 home with its $60,000 assessed value would owe $2,700 before credits, and about $2,100 after the $600 Homestead Tax Credit. Your actual millage will differ, so check your county collector's office or your most recent bill for the exact figure.

Because only 20% of market value is taxed, Arkansas effective rates run well below what the raw millage numbers suggest, which is a big part of why Arkansas property tax bills tend to be modest compared with most states. The exact effective rate for your home depends entirely on your district's millage and your assessed value.

The Arkansas Homestead Tax Credit: Now $600

If you own and occupy your home as your principal residence, Amendment 79 entitles you to a Homestead Tax Credit that comes straight off your tax bill. This is a credit, not an exemption: it does not reduce your assessed value, it reduces the dollars you owe.

The credit has grown quickly. In the 2024 fiscal session, HB1002 raised it from $425 to $500, effective for assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2024. Then in the 2025 regular session, HB1534 passed the House 96 to 0 and raised it again, from $500 to $600, effective for assessment years beginning January 1, 2025. That was the largest increase in the credit's history, funded by the state's Tax Relief Fund with no impact on general revenue. Because Arkansas property taxes are paid a year in arrears, homeowners see the $600 credit for the first time on the bills they pay in 2026.

The credit is not automatic for new homeowners. You register your homestead with your county assessor once, and the credit then applies each year. If you recently bought a home in Arkansas and have never registered, contact your county assessor's office. Leaving the credit unclaimed is leaving $600 a year on the table.

What Changed for 2026

The headline change on 2026 tax bills is the Homestead Tax Credit stepping up to $600. Nothing about the cap structure changed: the 5% homestead and 10% non-homestead limits, the Amendment 59 millage rollback, and the 20% assessment ratio all carry forward unchanged. But the combination of two credit increases in two years means a homeowner who was getting $425 off their bill a couple of years ago is now getting $600 off, a $175 annual improvement that arrived without the homeowner doing anything.

So did property taxes go up in 2026? For any individual homeowner it depends on where their county sits in its reappraisal cycle. If your county reappraised recently and your value is still phasing in under the 5% cap, your taxable value rose 5% this year and will keep doing so until it reaches full assessed value. If your county did not reappraise and your millage did not change, your bill may actually have gone down thanks to the larger credit.

The Senior and Disabled Homeowner Freeze

Amendment 79 gives homeowners who are 65 or older, or who are disabled, something stronger than a cap: a freeze. A qualifying homestead is assessed at the lower of its value when the owner purchased or built it, when the owner became disabled, or when the owner turned 65. Reappraisals can come and go, and the frozen assessed value does not move. The freeze does not stop millage changes, and value added by substantial improvements can still be assessed, but the underlying number is locked.

Like the credit, the freeze requires you to register with your county assessor. If you or a family member turned 65 or became disabled and the assessed value on the notice is still climbing, call the assessor's office and ask whether the freeze is on file. For more on programs like this, see our guide to whether appealing is worth it alongside the exemptions you may already qualify for.

The Caps Never Check Whether Your Value Is Right

Everything above shares one blind spot. The 5% cap, the 10% cap, the millage rollback, the credit, the freeze: all of them operate on the assessed value the county assigned. None of them audit it. Countywide reappraisals are done by mass-appraisal models and contract reappraisal firms pricing tens of thousands of parcels at once. Errors are routine: wrong square footage, a remodel that never happened, comparable sales from a nicer neighborhood. When the model overshoots, the cap just slows down the rate at which you absorb a number that was wrong from the start.

Arkansas gives you a formal path to challenge it, and the clock matters. An appeal to your county's Board of Equalization must be initiated by the third Monday in August of the tax year. For 2026, that is Monday, August 17, 2026, and some counties enforce it to the minute: Carroll County, for example, requires the equalization application by 4:30 PM that day. Scheduling typically runs through the County Clerk's office, and most counties offer an informal review with the assessor or the reappraisal firm before your formal hearing. If the Board rules against you, you can appeal onward to county court. The full process, step by step, is in our guide to how to appeal property taxes in Arkansas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do property taxes go up every year in Arkansas?

Not necessarily. Between reappraisals your assessed value generally holds steady, and reappraisals only happen every 3 to 5 years. In the years after a reappraisal, a homestead's taxable value can rise up to 5% annually until it reaches full assessed value, so many homeowners do see several consecutive years of 5% increases. Millage changes approved by voters can also move the bill in any year.

How much can my assessment increase after a reappraisal?

The reappraised market value itself has no limit; it is supposed to reflect the market. What Amendment 79 limits is how fast your taxable assessed value moves toward it: 5% per year for a homestead, 10% per year for other property. New construction, substantial improvements, and newly discovered property are excluded and go on the rolls at full value right away.

Does the 5% cap reset when I buy a home?

The mechanics of how Amendment 79's cap applies after a sale are more technical than most summaries suggest, and they are governed by state statute rather than a simple universal reset rule. If you are buying, do not assume the seller's taxable value carries over or resets; ask the county assessor how the property will be assessed after closing, and remember to register for the Homestead Tax Credit in your own name.

When is the deadline to appeal my Arkansas assessment?

The third Monday in August of the tax year, which for 2026 is August 17. You initiate the appeal with your county's Board of Equalization, usually through the County Clerk's office. Some counties cut off applications at a specific time that afternoon, so file early rather than at the deadline.

Are property taxes high in Arkansas?

Arkansas taxes only 20% of a property's market value, caps how fast taxable value can grow, rolls back millage after big reappraisals, and hands homeowners a $600 credit. The structure keeps typical bills low by national standards. That does not make any individual bill correct, though; an overassessed home in a low-tax state still overpays every year until someone challenges the value.

Related Resources

If you think your assessed value is off, start with our step-by-step guide to how to appeal property taxes in Arkansas. If you are on the fence about whether a challenge makes financial sense, read Is It Worth Appealing Property Taxes?, and when you are ready to build your case, see What Evidence Do I Need for an Appeal?

This article provides general information about Arkansas property tax laws as of July 2026. Tax laws change frequently, and local rules vary. Consult your county assessor or a tax professional for advice specific to your situation.