Berry Creek or Berry Creek Highlands? The Shared Name Hides Two Different Tax Bills

Two homes in north Georgetown can both say "Berry Creek" in the listing and still come with different property tax bills. Williamson Central Appraisal District records show it. The house at 405 Champions Drive is legally described as Berry Creek Section 11, Phase 3. Its 2026 record lists four taxing entities: the City of Georgetown, Williamson County, the county's FM/Road fund and Georgetown ISD. The house at 1045 Dog Iron Street is in Berry Creek Highlands Phase 1B. It pays the same city and county. It also pays the Berry Creek Highlands MUD, and its school district is Jarrell ISD. In the 2026 numbers, the MUD line makes up most of the gap between those two bills.

Two Addresses, One Name, Different Taxing Entities

The older Berry Creek grew up around a golf course that was finished in 1986. Georgetown resident Carl Doering designed it, and it is now The Club at Berry Creek. In 2021, Community Impact described the area as three sections. Taylor Morrison built all the homes in Villages of Berry Creek. Most homes in the Reserve at Berry Creek and Berry Creek proper were custom-built in the '90s. The appraisal district's two sample homes match that timeline. The house at 30600 Berry Creek Drive dates to 1993, and the Champions Drive house dates to 1997.

Berry Creek Highlands is a newer, separate project. The city zoned 314.54 acres for it in 2018. Its bond disclosure puts it north of Shell Road and west of SH 195. The same document says its utility district took effect July 22, 2019, and voters confirmed it that November. It names Ashton Austin Residential as an active developer and says later phases were sold to Chesmar Homes. The Dog Iron Street house was built in 2023.

Three of the six lines are the same for both homes. The other three explain the difference in cost.

The MUD Line Is the Bigger Difference

A municipal utility district is a separate taxing body that pays for infrastructure through its own rate. The Berry Creek Highlands MUD's proposed budget for fiscal 2026-27 sets a total rate of $0.55 per $100. Of that, $0.0910 goes to maintenance and operations and $0.4590 goes to debt service. So most of each MUD dollar repays debt.

The district's own 2026 rate worksheet shows what that meant in dollars. In 2025, the average homestead in the district had a taxable value of $388,258. At the adopted $0.55 rate, the MUD tax on that home came to $2,135.42 for the year. The same worksheet lists a 2026 voter-approval rate of $0.6410 and, separately, a tax election rate of $0.6217. Both are calculated ceilings. Neither one is the rate the board set. The board's Aug. 28 agenda included a vote on the 2026 rate. WCAD's 2026 record for the Dog Iron Street house lists the MUD at $0.55.

None of this applies to the two older Berry Creek homes, whose 2026 records show no MUD and no emergency services district.

The School District Gap Depends on Nov. 3

The school line gets most of the attention in comparisons like this one. It is also the line most likely to change this fall. Jarrell ISD adopted $1.1668 for 2026-27, nearly the same as its $1.1669 rate the year before. Georgetown ISD's rate depends on Proposition A, a voter-approval tax rate election on the Nov. 3 ballot. Early voting begins Oct. 19.

If Prop A passes, Georgetown ISD's rate becomes $1.1106. If it fails, the two published sources give different numbers. The district's Prop A page says the rate would go back to $1.0506. Community Impact reported $1.0206. It reasoned that the board had already lowered the debt-service rate to $0.3275.

Per $100,000 of taxable value, the yearly difference works out this way:

• Berry Creek Highlands MUD at $0.55: $550 that the older Berry Creek homes don't pay
• School gap if Prop A passes: Jarrell ISD is $0.0562 higher, or about $56
• School gap if Prop A fails, using the district's $1.0506: about $116
• School gap if Prop A fails, using Community Impact's $1.0206: about $146

Under every one of those scenarios, the MUD line costs roughly four to ten times as much as the school-rate gap. Passing Prop A would make the two school rates closer. It would not change the MUD line.

One more factor affects the school line for both neighborhoods. The Texas Comptroller says that under a constitutional amendment Texas voters approved on Nov. 4, 2025, school districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value, plus another $60,000 for qualifying owners who are 65 or older or disabled. Georgetown ISD estimates that its 2026 median homestead, with a taxable value of $444,465, would owe about $3,381 in district taxes if Prop A passes.

These figures are illustrations, not a forecast of any household's bill. Exemptions, freezes and the final adopted rates all change the actual numbers.

Why New Neighborhoods Pay for Amenities This Way

The way Georgetown handled two recent projects shows why newer neighborhoods carry a MUD line and the older ones don't.

In November 2025, City Council stopped work on Berry Creek Trail West. That planned trail would have connected the county's Berry Springs Park with the future Westside Park. At an Oct. 2 public meeting, 60 of 115 participants voted for no trail at all. A proposed extension through Berry Creek Country Club drew 37 votes against out of 41. A resident told council that 177 people in the Berry Creek neighborhood had signed a petition opposing the trail. District 5 council member Kevin Pitts explained why he supported ending it:

"Trying to retrofit trails through existing neighborhoods like Berry Creek, which weren't originally designed with a trail in mind, makes it more difficult and creates angst."

Community Impact paraphrased that point in its report. Council agreed unanimously to end the project. Pitts recommended putting the city's $2.9 million share toward a different project in the capital improvement plan.

Ten months later, a public trail along Berry Creek was approved anyway. It was built into a new district instead of an existing neighborhood. On Sept. 22, 2026, council approved Ordinance 2026-59, consenting to the Yearwood MUD on about 728 acres north of Sun City. In return for that consent, the city negotiated a 140-acre Berry Creek Park, a public trail alongside the creek, two amenity centers and a 7-acre public safety site. Developer Freehold Capital Management cut its requested maximum MUD rate from $0.75 to $0.65 per $100. The plan calls for 1,728 homes. Future owners will pay Georgetown city taxes plus the MUD tax.

In new districts, trails and parks are negotiated up front and paid for through the MUD. In established neighborhoods, the city has to add them later, and Berry Creek residents turned that down in 2025. A buyer comparing the two areas is comparing a neighborhood that doesn't have that extra MUD line with neighborhoods where the line pays for the infrastructure and amenities.

The name also covers more and more places. Once Yearwood's park is built, there will be a creek, a 1980s golf community, a 2019 utility district and a 140-acre park, all called Berry Creek, and each has a different tax setup. Another project under the same name, a traffic signal at Berry Creek Highlands and SH 195, appears in the city's capital project tracker as proposed, with $400,000 in projected costs and no construction schedule.

Checking a Specific Address

A subdivision name doesn't prove which taxing entities apply, but the parcel record does. Before making an offer on any home called "Berry Creek," you can check four things:

1. Search the address on the Williamson Central Appraisal District property search and read the legal description. "Berry Creek Sec" and "Berry Creek Highlands Ph" mean different subdivisions.
2. On the same record, read the full list of taxing entities. A MUD line or a different school district will show up there.
3. Compare the listed rates with the 2026 adoptions shown above. WCAD's 2026 pages still showed the city's 2025 rate of $0.353 when we checked.
4. After Nov. 3, check the result of the Georgetown ISD Proposition A vote, because it sets one line of the older Berry Creek tax bill.

For any question about your own tax situation, ask a qualified tax professional.

A Few Questions We Hear Often

Is Villages of Berry Creek the same as Berry Creek Highlands? No. Taylor Morrison built Villages of Berry Creek about two decades before Community Impact's 2021 profile, which placed it off Berry Creek Drive between Briarcrest Drive and SH 195. Berry Creek Highlands is a separate subdivision whose MUD dates to 2019.

Does a Berry Creek Highlands address mean the home is outside Georgetown? No. The Dog Iron Street record lists the City of Georgetown as a taxing entity, the same as the older homes.

Does the club come with a home in older Berry Creek? No. Community Impact's 2021 profile described country club access through membership levels for golf, social and sports, each with its own initiation fee. Club costs are separate from any taxing entity.

If a home you're considering says "Berry Creek" and you aren't sure which one it is, Mary Ann and Kara at Oak & Willow Realty Group will pull the parcel record with you and go through each line before you write an offer. If you already own in either neighborhood and want to see how your tax setup affects your home's value to buyers, start with a free home valuation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.