Boerne, Texas
Planning for Boerne households, where the acreage is part of the balance sheet.
Boerne grew by about a third between the 2020 Census and mid-2025, and much of what arrived came for the Hill Country itself: larger lots, ranch land, and a slower pace within a half-hour of San Antonio. Much of the wealth around Boerne sits outside the city limits: in Kendall County acreage, in Fair Oaks Ranch, and with the households who moved here to retire on land. That produces planning questions most suburbs never raise: open-space appraisal, rollback taxes, and how a ranch passes to the next generation.
The situation
The county seat of a county that is one-quarter ranch land, by value
Boerne is the seat of Kendall County, on Cibolo Creek and Interstate 10 about thirty miles northwest of San Antonio. The Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimate puts the city at 24,047 residents, up from 17,865 at the 2020 Census, a gain of roughly 35 percent in five years; Kendall County grew about 20 percent over the same period, to 53,289. About a third of Boerne’s housing units were built in 2010 or later, against roughly a fifth statewide.
Who is arriving matters as much as how many. Residents 65 and older are about 17 percent of Boerne’s population, above the Texas figure of about 13 percent, and on the appraisal district’s 2025 roll roughly four in ten Kendall County homesteads carry an over-65 exemption. Next door, Fair Oaks Ranch, which spans Bexar, Kendall and Comal counties, has a median household income near $174,000 and a median home value of about $658,000. The households we meet here tend to hold a house on acreage, a retirement plan built somewhere else, and a piece of land whose tax treatment depends on how it is used.
Why it’s complex
Five Boerne decisions that turn on the land
Open-space land is taxed at under 1% of its market value
Kendall County’s 2025 certified roll carries about $4.78 billion of land at market value that is taxed on roughly $28 million of agricultural productivity value. Qualifying under Tax Code Chapter 23 requires agricultural use, to the degree of intensity typical for the area, for five of the preceding seven years; wildlife management can qualify land that already had the appraisal.
The rollback tax follows a change of use
Take 1-d-1 land out of agricultural use, or sell to a buyer who does, and the appraisal district can bill the difference between productivity-value taxes and market-value taxes for the previous three years, plus interest. We price that into any decision to subdivide, build, or sell a portion of a ranch.
Three rates, two freezes, no city homestead exemption
For 2025 the City of Boerne levies $0.4716 per $100, Kendall County $0.377, and Boerne ISD $1.0109. The city and county offer no general homestead exemption, but both freeze the tax bill on an over-65 or disabled homestead, and the county takes $10,000 off value at 65.
A ranch in the estate plan
Land held as community property can receive a full new basis at the first spouse’s death, and a Texas rural homestead of up to 200 acres for a family is protected from most creditors with no dollar cap. What the land still needs is a plan for who runs it, who is bought out, and how the appraisal survives the transfer.
Read the guideRetiring here from another state
Federal law bars the state you left from taxing retirement income paid to you as a Texas resident, and Texas has no income tax to replace it. What can follow you is a residency audit and any income still sourced to the old state, so we document the move against the factors California and New York actually test.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates and ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates (Boerne; Fair Oaks Ranch); Kendall Appraisal District, adopted tax rates and exemptions and 2025 certified totals; Texas Comptroller, agricultural and timber appraisal; Texas Comptroller 2025 school district rate report.
Our approach
One plan for the house, the land and the income
We start with what Boerne households actually own: a homestead, often acreage under a separate appraisal, retirement accounts from a career elsewhere, and a tax picture set by three local rates rather than a state income tax. A worked example on the school layer: at Boerne’s median home value of $457,900, the $140,000 school homestead exemption leaves $317,900 taxable; at Boerne ISD’s 2025 rate of $1.0109 per $100 that is about $3,214 a year ($317,900 × 1.0109 / 100). The city and county levy on the full value, since neither offers a general homestead exemption: about $2,159 for the City of Boerne ($457,900 × 0.4716 / 100) and about $1,726 for Kendall County ($457,900 × 0.377 / 100).
Read the appraisal before the closing
Confirm whether the land carries 1-d-1 appraisal, whether the seller’s use will continue under you, and which taxing units the parcel sits in, since Boerne ISD reaches into Bexar and Comal counties and Fair Oaks Ranch sits in three.
Keep the appraisal and fund the rest
Document the agricultural or wildlife use each year, weigh the rollback exposure before selling any parcel, and build the investment side of the balance sheet so the land is not the only asset that can pay for retirement.
Decide what the land is for
Whether it passes intact, is divided, or is sold, we work with your estate attorney on titling, basis, and a succession that keeps the productivity appraisal in place.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- Open-space (1-d-1) appraisal review and rollback exposure before a sale or subdivision
- Homestead filing, the over-65 freezes offered by Boerne and Kendall County, and the school-tax ceiling
- Relocation planning and residency documentation for households arriving from other states
- Retirement income from plans built at a former employer, including pension and rollover decisions
- Sale of appreciated land or a business, including capital-gains timing
- Community-property titling and basis planning with your estate attorney
- Investment management built around after-tax outcomes
- Coordination with your CPA and your land or ranch advisers
Planning is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, the firm’s founder. We are fee-only: no commissions, no product sales. About Theo
Questions
Common questions from Boerne households
Do you have an office in Boerne?
No public office. We meet Boerne and Kendall County households by video, and in person by arrangement.
We bought acreage outside Boerne. How do we keep the agricultural appraisal?
The land must stay in a qualifying agricultural use at the intensity typical for the area, and the Kendall Appraisal District can ask you to show it. If the land already had the appraisal, an approved wildlife-management plan is another way to qualify. Changing to a non-agricultural use triggers a rollback of three prior years’ tax difference plus interest, so the timing of any change is a planning decision.
What does the homestead exemption save on a Boerne home?
On the school layer, $140,000 off value at Boerne ISD’s 2025 rate of $1.0109 is worth about $1,415 a year, and $200,000 at 65 or older is worth about $2,022. The City of Boerne and Kendall County do not offer a percentage homestead exemption, but both freeze the tax bill for over-65 and disabled homesteads, and the county exempts a further $10,000 of value at 65.
Which school district and county tax our home?
Most Boerne addresses are in Kendall County and Boerne ISD, but the district covers more than 350 square miles and reaches into Bexar and Comal counties, and Fair Oaks Ranch sits in Bexar, Kendall and Comal. Your appraisal notice lists every taxing unit; the combination sets your rate and which over-65 freezes apply.
We plan to leave the ranch to our children. What should the plan cover?
Who will run it, whether any child is bought out, how the land is titled, and how the open-space appraisal transfers. Land held as community property can receive a full new cost basis at the first spouse’s death, which changes the math on selling versus holding. Those are decisions for you and an estate attorney; we build the financial side so the land never has to be sold to pay for retirement.
How are you paid?
Directly by our clients, as a fee. We earn no commissions from products, land, or referrals.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Tell us about the land.
The first conversation is 30 minutes, by video. Bring the appraisal notice if you have it; nothing else to prepare.
We work with individuals and families across Boerne and throughout Texas, meeting by video or in person by arrangement.
Meet with usWe do not maintain a public office at this location; Boerne is part of the area we serve. Figures reflect law and published rates as of September 2026 and may change.