Take a homesteaded house that sells for $594,500, the median sold price in HAR's The Woodlands market area in August 2026. In Sterling Ridge, its estimated 2026 property tax bill comes to about $8,930. Move the same house to Creekside Park and the estimate rises to about $12,370. The portals list both homes at the same price. Over a year, the second one costs about $3,400 more to own.
Most guides put that difference down to schools, since Creekside Park is in Tomball ISD and the Montgomery County villages are in Conroe ISD. Once exemptions are applied, though, the school district is one of the smaller parts of the gap. Most of the gap comes from two other places. Creekside Park sits in Harris County, and its municipal utility district is still paying off the pipes under the village.
Two Bills on the Same House
The Woodlands' own village-by-village comparison for taxes payable in 2025 put Sterling Ridge, served by MUD 46, at $1.84 per $100 of value. Creekside Park, served by Harris-Montgomery Counties MUD 386, was at $2.43. Here is the same comparison rebuilt with the rates posted as of early October 2026:
| Taxing layer | Creekside Park, per $100 | Sterling Ridge, per $100 |
|---|---|---|
| School district | Tomball ISD, $1.0558 | Conroe ISD, $0.9471 |
| County and county-wide units | $0.67627 across five Harris County units | $0.4318 for Montgomery County and its hospital district |
| Lone Star College | $0.1058 | $0.1058 |
| The Woodlands Township | $0.1694 | $0.1694 |
| Water and sewer district | MUD 386, $0.43, latest posted rate | MUD 46, $0.171612 |
| Emergency services | Harris County ESD 11, $0.038294, latest posted rate | None listed |
Several of these rates were adopted this fall:
- The Township board approved $0.1694, down from $0.1714.
- Tomball ISD adopted $1.0558, a $0.0071 cut.
- Conroe ISD set $0.9471.
- Lone Star College trustees approved $0.1058.
Harris County's 2026 rates are $0.4175 for the county, $0.05266 for Flood Control, $0.19528 for the Hospital District and $0.00603 for the Port of Houston. The Harris County Department of Education rate is included at its 2025 level of $0.0048. On the Montgomery side, the county tax office's rate history lists $0.3860 for the county and $0.0458 for the hospital district in 2026.
Before exemptions, the two stacks are about $0.61 per $100 apart, and that is before ESD 11 is added. Exemptions don't shrink every line equally, and that changes which lines matter most.
The School Line Shrinks the Most
Texas school districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value from school taxes, according to the Texas Comptroller. Both districts tax the same reduced value. On a $594,500 homestead, the $0.1087 rate difference between Tomball ISD and Conroe ISD comes to about $494 a year.
That is the smallest of the three main gaps in the illustration. The school exemption is a flat dollar amount, so it removes a larger share of value from a modest home than from an expensive one. The other layers use percentage exemptions or none at all, which means their share of the gap grows as the home's price rises.
The County Line Costs More Than the School Line
Harris County offers a 20% optional homestead exemption, according to the Harris Central Appraisal District. The county's 2026 Commissioners Court item applies homestead exemptions to the county, Flood Control and the Hospital District. Montgomery County's 2026 exemption schedule lists the same 20% for both the county and its hospital district.
The exemption percentage is the same on both sides, so the rate decides the outcome. Harris County's layer has five separate units in it, including flood control and the port authority. In the illustration, the county-level bill comes to about $3,230 in Creekside Park and about $2,050 in Sterling Ridge, a difference of about $1,175. Harris County ESD 11 is responsible for emergency medical services in its district. At its latest posted rate, it adds roughly another $228.
The lines that are the same on both sides cancel out. The Township's 3% homestead exemption and Lone Star College's 8% exemption apply equally in both villages.
The Biggest Line Pays for the Pipes
MUD 386 provides water and wastewater service to Creekside Park, according to The Woodlands Township. Its 2025 rate was $0.43. Only $0.13 of that went to maintenance and operations. The other $0.30 went to debt service. In Sterling Ridge, MUD 46's 2026 rate, posted by Woodlands Water, is $0.171612, slightly lower than its 2025 rate of $0.174633.
None of the sources reviewed showed a homestead exemption for either district, so the illustration applies both MUD rates to full value. That makes the MUD the largest single item in the gap, at about $2,556 against $1,020. The difference of about $1,536 a year is roughly 45% of the total gap.
The reason is the order in which the infrastructure was built. Creekside Park is the newer village, and the bonds that paid for its water lines, sewer plant and drainage are still early in repayment. The district's audit reports $149,835,000 in bonded debt outstanding as of March 31, 2026, with maturities from fiscal year 2027 through fiscal year 2052. The same audit shows MUD 386 paid MUD 387 $18.85 million toward expanding a wastewater treatment plant that serves its customers.
Why This Gap Closes Slowly
MUD 386's rate has come down. It was $0.49 per $100 in 2020 and 2021, $0.45 in 2022 and 2023, $0.44 in 2024 and $0.43 in 2025. That is $0.06 in five years. At that pace, MUD 386 would not reach MUD 46's current rate for decades.
There is also more borrowing authority still available. A bond disclosure dated Aug. 21, 2025, listed $75.6 million in voter-approved water, sewer and drainage bonds that had not yet been issued, plus $4.55 million for recreation. Those figures may have changed since then. They still show that the district's borrowing is not finished.
The housing market doesn't seem to price this in. Portal comparisons show list price, square footage and maybe a monthly payment estimate, so a $1,500 annual difference in water district taxes rarely appears side by side. Creekside Park's 2025 price per square foot of about $232 in Houston Association of Realtors data was close to the Woodlands-wide figure of $228.89 for June 28 through Sept. 27, 2026. Those two figures cover different periods, so they are not an exact comparison. They are still enough to suggest that Creekside Park homes have not been discounted to cover their higher tax bill.
What Changes the Number for One Address
The village averages above are only a starting point. Several things on a specific parcel can move the result:
- The MUD number on the tax record. May Valley is split between MUD 386 and MUD 46, and the village table reports its total as either $2.14 or $1.88 per $100 depending on the district. MUD 386 itself covers land in both counties. It buys water and sewer service from MUD 387 for its Harris County portion and from the San Jacinto River Authority for its Montgomery County portion.
- The Enclave at The Woodlands Defined Area. Homes inside this defined area pay MUD 386's general tax plus a separate defined-area tax. That tax repays bonds secured only by property in the area: the Series 2025 bonds ran $4.25 million, and the area's direct debt was $8.89 million after the 2025A sale.
- Rates still pending for 2026. As of early October, the county's table shows a blank 2026 entry for MUD 386. The district's resources page is the place to check for the new rate order. HCDE's 2026 rate also had not posted, and ESD 11's latest public notice was from October 2025.
- Age-based exemptions. Qualifying owners 65 and older receive an extra $60,000 school exemption under state law, plus a school tax ceiling. Montgomery County lists a $50,000 over-65 exemption. Harris County's 2026 item kept an additional exemption of up to $320,000 for owners who are over 65 or disabled. Because the counties treat this group so differently, the gap can look very different for an older owner.
FAQ
Does Creekside Park pay The Woodlands Township tax? Yes. The Township's $0.1694 rate for 2026 applies in Creekside Park just as it does in the Montgomery County villages.
Is the higher rate tied to Tomball ISD? Only in small part. After the $140,000 school exemption, the Tomball ISD versus Conroe ISD difference is about $494 a year in the $594,500 illustration. The MUD and county lines each account for more than twice that.
Is MUD 386's rate going down? It has fallen steadily, from $0.49 to $0.43 since 2020. The district's bonds mature through fiscal year 2052, and more borrowing authority remained as of August 2025.
These figures are estimates built from posted rates and listed exemptions. They are not a substitute for the tax record on a specific property. When our clients compare a Creekside Park home with one in Sterling Ridge or Alden Bridge, The Ferester Team pulls the MUD, any defined-area tax and the current rates for each address, so the comparison covers the full annual cost and not just the price. Book an appointment, and we will go through the tax records for the homes on your list with you.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
