At Ramble, the First Property Tax Bill Isn't the One to Budget For

Collin County mailed its 2026 property tax statements in October. If you closed on a new Ramble home this year and it was still a lot or a partly built frame on January 1, your statement reflects that earlier stage. That's because Texas Tax Code §23.01 appraises property as it stood on January 1. The full cost of owning a finished Ramble home shows up once the house itself is on the roll. For 2026, the five taxing units at Ramble add up to $2.783111 for every $100 of taxable value.

That number matters for a 2026 closer working out a household budget. It matters just as much for a buyer comparing Ramble with another Celina community, because the first year's bill on a new home doesn't tell you what the second year will cost.

The January 1 snapshot

Texas Tax Code §23.01 requires property to be appraised at market value as of January 1, accounting for the features that affect its value. For a resale home that rule hardly matters, because the house looks the same in January as it does in June. For new construction, it decides what the whole first bill is based on.

The Collin Central Appraisal District says it finds and appraises new construction using inspections, building plans, permits, owner information and imagery. The Texas Comptroller's 2026 classification guide treats a partly built house that isn't yet livable, along with its lot, as residential property. Whatever the district counted on January 1, 2026 is what the October statement was based on.

Ramble is new. Its entrance sits on North Preston Road at Ramble Way, about two miles north of downtown Celina, and the Turtle Club amenity center is scheduled to open in May 2027. In a community this early in its build-out, any owner whose home was finished after January 1, 2026 is getting a first bill for a property that has changed since its appraisal.

Why the homestead cap doesn't soften year two

Many Texas homeowners know about the 10% cap on yearly increases in a homestead's appraised value. Two parts of the rule matter at Ramble. Here is the first, as the Comptroller puts it:

"The limitation takes effect on Jan. 1 of the tax year following the year the property owner qualifies for the homestead exemption."

The second is in Tax Code Section 23.23. The capped value is the prior year's appraised value plus 10%, plus the market value of any new improvements. A new improvement is anything added since the last appraisal that raises the property's value and wasn't counted in the prior year. A house finished after January 1 fits that definition, so its full market value is added on top of the capped figure.

Taken together, the cap works much as most owners expect from the third year on, but it doesn't smooth out the jump from a lot-or-frame value to a finished-home value.

Five rates on one Ramble statement

Ramble homes sit in Celina ISD, the City of Celina, Collin County and the Collin College district. They also sit inside a fifth taxing unit. Ramble's HOA describes it this way: "Ramble is located within Celina Municipal Management District No. 2 (the 'MMD') of Collin County." These are the tax-year 2026 rates from Collin County's official 2026 rate table.

The middle column is plain arithmetic on the published rates. It shows how heavy each line is. It isn't an estimate for any particular home. Exemptions change taxable value differently for each unit, and that's why the last column matters. Texas law requires every school district to offer the $140,000 homestead exemption, according to the Comptroller's exemptions page. The MMD #2 line, by contrast, shows no exemptions at all in the county's table.

For a Ramble buyer, the MMD line is the one to understand. At 77 cents, it's about 28% of the combined rate. The city calculated its own 2026 rate at $0.571677, certified on August 12, 2026, so the MMD rate is higher than the City of Celina's. Based on the exemption columns in that table, the MMD line applies to the full appraised value even when the ISD line is reduced by a homestead exemption.

What the MMD line pays for

Celina Municipal Management District No. 2 was created by House Bill 4268 in the 85th Texas Legislature and is codified in Chapter 3798 of the Special District Local Laws Code, effective September 1, 2017. Ramble's HOA says the district operates under the supervision of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Its main job is building water, sewer, drainage, roads and other infrastructure in rights-of-way. Hillwood's FAQ adds that it also funds maintenance of the right-of-way landscaping inside the property.

So the streets, pipes and parkway landscaping you drive past on the way in are paid for through the tax bill, at a rate based on each home's value. If you're comparing Ramble with a community that has no special district, the gap in monthly cost comes mostly from this one line. We explained a similar arrangement in why every home at The Ranch at Uptown Celina pays the same HOA fee but not the same tax bill. At Ramble, the district runs under its own statute and charges its own rate.

The fixed costs that sit outside the tax bill

The tax bill rises and falls with value. Two other Ramble costs are flat. Hillwood lists HOA dues of $163 to $217 a month, covering front-yard maintenance for every home, upkeep of the amenities and common areas, and onsite staff. Every home also gets a gigabit fiber connection, billed separately at $65 a month. The HOA bills its dues semiannually.

Put that on top of the table and the full monthly picture for a Ramble home has three parts:

• a flat HOA amount between $163 and $217
• a flat $65 fiber charge
• a tax amount that grows from the lot-stage figure to the finished-home figure, then grows under the 10% cap after that

Only the third part changes much between the first bill and the second. If you closed this year and your mortgage payment includes an escrow account, a jump in that one line affects your payment too. That makes it a good topic for a conversation with your lender before next fall. Our mortgage calculator lets you try different tax amounts against a payment.

The dates that frame the next twelve months

1. Now: 2026 statements were mailed in October and are due on receipt.
2. January 1, 2027: the appraisal date for next year's bill. A home finished in 2026 is valued as a completed house.
3. January 31, 2027: the last day to pay 2026 taxes without penalty, per Collin County's tax FAQ. Mailed payments must be postmarked by that date.
4. February 1, 2027: unpaid 2026 taxes become delinquent.
5. May 2027: the Turtle Club, with its clubhouse, infinity-edge pool, fitness center, biergarten, event lawn, playscape and fishing pier, is scheduled to open.

Before you lock in any number, check with your own tax professional, lender or the appraisal district. This post is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice, and every parcel's exemptions and value are different.

A few questions we hear

Is Ramble in a MUD? Ramble is in a municipal management district, Celina MMD #2. Collin County lists it under special districts, separate from its list of MUDs. Like a MUD, it pays for water, sewer, drainage and roads through a property tax rate.

Which rates should I compare against another community? Use the current rates for each taxing unit from the Collin County rate table, applied to a finished home's value. Each unit sets its rate every year, so the 2026 figures are a starting point for comparison.

Who decides what my home was worth on January 1? The Collin Central Appraisal District, using inspections, permits, plans, owner information and imagery.

Does a builder incentive change any of this? No. Incentives change what you pay at closing. They don't change the appraisal date. Our breakdown of Ramble's fall builder incentives covers what those offers do change.

Whether you're comparing floor plans at Ramble or trying to make sense of the statement that just arrived, Brent Wells can go through the five-line math with you for any home you're considering, using its finished value instead of the lot-stage number. Reach out to LivingWell Realty, and we'll help you plan around the second-year bill before it shows up.