Special water districts and what they mean for your tax bill in Bell County

Texas allows the creation of special districts to provide water, sewer, drainage, and related services in areas where a city cannot or does not provide them. Bell County has several Water Control and Improvement Districts, or WCIDs. The largest is Bell County WCID No. 1, which was authorized in 1955 and serves more than 250,000 people by drawing water from Lake Belton and Lake Stillhouse Hollow.

WCID No. 1 supplies water to Fort Hood, Killeen, Harker Heights, Belton, Copperas Cove, and other customers. Other smaller WCIDs, like WCID No. 3 (Nolanville) and WCID No. 5, operate in more limited areas. Each district can levy its own tax rate on property within its boundaries.

If you are buying property in Bell County, check your Bell CAD property search at esearch.bellcad.org to see all the taxing units that apply to a specific parcel. A property in a WCID pays county tax, school tax, and WCID tax separately. The TCEQ maintains a statewide water district map at tceq.texas.gov if you want to look up which district covers a particular area.