Zapata might be one of the most fun counties in the state to name. Say it out loud a couple of times.
Perhaps best known for battling the first Trump administration’s efforts to build a border wall, the county is undergoing an electoral shift. In 2020 and 2024, after voting blue for 100 years (Clinton won 65 percent of the vote), Donald Trump won the county. In 2024, he had a Clinton-esque margin of 61 percent.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Zapata County’s population as of the 2020 census was 13,889, a decrease of 1 percent from 2010. When ranked by size, it is in the lower half of all Texas counties, and the Central Appraisal District is responsible for appraising properties for just four taxing entities.
As with other counties, an analysis of property tax data from 2019 to 2022 assigned averages of taxable value, rates of increase, and average payment amounts for residents of Zapata County.
There is one massive eyesore in the data: Zapata County Water Control and Improvement District (WCID). Average bills increased by 150.66 percent, the highest among all entities analyzed. This change was driven by a 130.87 percent increase in average taxable value despite modest tax rate increases (0.3500 in 2019 to 0.3800 in 2022).
Another special district, Siesta Shores WCID, saw tax bills rise by 10.62 percent, with the average taxable value increasing by 9.39 percent.
Other entities managed to keep tax burdens stable or even reduced them over the same period. Zapata County proper maintained a consistent tax rate of 0.2150 in 2021 and 2022, resulting in a modest 1.76 percent two-year increase in tax burdens.
Meanwhile, Zapata Independent School District significantly reduced its tax rate from 0.9700 in 2019 to 0.8546 in 2022, resulting in a 14.09 percent decrease in average tax bills.
Zapata County has the second-lowest income per capita in Texas at $34,154, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve. The county with the lowest per capita income is neighboring Starr County.
From now until tax day in 2025, Texas Scorecard will report on counties across the state, highlighting local officials working to lighten—or at the very least not add to—property taxpayers’ burdens.
Conversely, public servants who have added to taxpayers’ already burdensome load will also be scrutinized.
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