Flower Mound, Texas
Planning for Flower Mound households, where the town set its own pace.
Flower Mound is a town by charter, and it has spent a quarter century managing its own growth. The result is a settled place: 38.2% of households earn $200,000 or more, the median home is worth about $560,200, and the median resident is 43.5 years old, a decade older than in Dallas. Planning here is less about arriving and more about the next twenty years.
The situation
A town that managed its growth, and households that are further along
Flower Mound was the tenth fastest-growing community in the country during the 1990s, more than tripling from 15,527 residents to 50,702. In 1999 the Town Council answered with SMARTGrowth, a growth-management program that tied new development to the infrastructure to support it. The town now holds about 78,000 people across 45 square miles, mostly in Denton County with a portion in Tarrant County, three miles north of DFW International Airport and between Grapevine Lake and Lewisville Lake.
The households that came with that growth are now further along: an appreciated home carrying Lewisville ISD taxes, two careers (often one in aviation, logistics or health care), retirement plans that have had twenty years to compound, and children moving toward college and out of the house. The question shifts from how to get established to how to turn what has been built into a retirement that holds up.
Why it’s complex
Five Flower Mound decisions worth getting right
The town exempts 20% of your homestead
In 2025 the Town Council raised its homestead exemption to the greater of $5,000 or 20% of appraised value, the most Texas allows a municipality. On a median-value home that removes about $112,000 from the town’s tax base, worth roughly $434 a year at the 2025 town rate of $0.387277 per $100.
Denton or Tarrant, Lewisville ISD or another
Most of the town is in Denton County (2025 rate $0.185938 per $100) and Lewisville ISD ($1.1178). The Tarrant County portion pays $0.1862, and some homes fall in Northwest ISD ($1.0841) or the Argyle, Denton or Grapevine-Colleyville districts. Your appraisal notice, not your mailing address, settles which units apply.
Three miles from the airport, and the careers that come with it
DFW International Airport sits three miles south of town and supports about 684,000 jobs across North Texas. Airline and aviation households carry their own calendar: a federal retirement age for pilots and plan election windows. The 1,500-acre Lakeside Business District adds logistics employers; Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound and Lewisville ISD anchor local employment.
Planning for American Airlines employeesThe over-65 stack, for a town that is aging in place
With a median age of 43.5, many households will reach 65 in this home. At that point the school exemption rises to $200,000, the school levy is capped at that year’s amount, and the town adds a $150,000 over-65 exemption on top of its 20%. That year interacts with Social Security, Medicare premiums and withdrawal order.
College funding when the schools were the reason you moved
Lewisville ISD serves most of the town, and many families arrived for it. Texas has no income tax and so no state 529 deduction; the case rests on federal tax-free growth, and college funding competes with retirement savings in the same decade. We sequence the two rather than letting the nearer deadline win.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates; Town of Flower Mound, My Tax Dollars; Town of Flower Mound, SMARTGrowth; DFW Airport, Facts & Figures; Texas Comptroller 2025 city, ISD and county rate reports; Tex. Tax Code §11.13, §11.26.
Our approach
A plan for the twenty years after the house is settled
We start from what has already been built, then plan the transitions ahead: the last tuition bill, the year one of you stops working, and the year the over-65 exemptions begin. A worked example: on a home at Flower Mound’s median value of $560,200, the $140,000 school exemption leaves $420,200 subject to Lewisville ISD tax; at the 2025 rate that is about $4,697 a year ($420,200 × $1.1178 / $100). The town’s 20% exemption removes $112,040 from the town levy, leaving $448,160, or about $1,736 a year at $0.387277 per $100 ($448,160 × $0.387277 / $100).
Coordinate two careers
Two workplace plans, two sets of benefits, any employer stock, and the college schedule, sized together so one decision doesn’t starve another.
Turn savings into a paycheck
A withdrawal order across pre-tax, Roth and taxable accounts, Roth conversions in the low-bracket years, and Social Security timing for each spouse.
Use the exemptions and the ceiling
The $200,000 school exemption and school-tax ceiling, the town’s $150,000 over-65 exemption, Medicare premium thresholds, and whether the house stays in the plan or funds the next chapter.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- Property-tax modeling at the county and ISD rates that apply to your address
- Homestead, over-65 and school-tax-ceiling filings with the appraisal district
- Airline and aviation retirement elections tied to a fixed date
- College funding sequenced against retirement savings
- Roth conversion sizing in a state with no income tax
- Social Security timing for two earners
- Investment management built around after-tax outcomes
- Beneficiary, titling and estate coordination with your attorney and CPA
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 Flower Mound households
Do you have an office in Flower Mound?
We work with Flower Mound households by video and, by arrangement, in person. We do not maintain a public office location.
How do I get the town's 20% homestead exemption?
File a residence homestead application with the Denton Central Appraisal District, or with the Tarrant Appraisal District if your home is in the Tarrant County portion of town. The same application covers the school, county and town exemptions. The town’s 20% exemption took effect on 2025 tax bills.
We live in the Tarrant County part of town. What changes?
The county rate differs ($0.1862 per $100 in Tarrant versus $0.185938 in Denton for 2025), as does the appraisal district that handles your file. Separately, some addresses are in Northwest ISD at $1.0841 rather than Lewisville ISD at $1.1178. Check the taxing units on your appraisal notice.
One of us works for an airline. How does that change the plan?
Airline careers often carry a fixed calendar: federal rules stop airline pilots from flying at 65, and employer plans have their own election windows. We plan the retirement date, plan elections, the 401(k) rollover and Social Security together, from your employer’s plan documents. Our page for American Airlines employees covers the details there.
College is a few years away. Should we favor the 529 or retirement accounts?
Texas has no state income tax, so there is no state deduction for 529 contributions; the benefit is federal tax-free growth for qualified education costs. We fund the college schedule and the retirement schedule on one timetable, since the years before tuition starts are often the same years catch-up contributions become available.
We plan to stay in this house past 65. What should we expect?
Once you qualify at 65, the school exemption rises to $200,000 and your school levy is capped at that year’s amount; the town adds a $150,000 over-65 exemption on top of its 20%. Property tax becomes a smaller, more predictable line just as income shifts from salary to withdrawals.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Tell us what the next twenty years should look like.
The first conversation is 30 minutes, by video. Bring your questions; nothing to prepare.
We work with individuals and families across Flower Mound and throughout Texas, meeting by video or in person by arrangement.
Meet with usWe do not maintain a public office at this location; Flower Mound is part of the area we serve. Figures reflect law and published rates as of September 2026 and may change.