Fort Smith, AR · Updated Oct 2026

What a Fort Smith house pays

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Sent only to free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Fort Smith house

$6,281a year · $523 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $178,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A Fort Smith house at the typical market value ($178,100) pays about $6,300 a year: $1,450 property tax and charges, $550 water and sewer, $190 trash, $2,350 electricity and gas, $1,740 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 21, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Homeowners 65+ or disabled: freeze your assessed valueValue frozen
If you qualify for the homestead credit and are 65 or older or disabled, the taxable assessed value of your home can be frozen at its value at the next assessment date after you turn 65 or become disabled. Your tax can still change if millage rates change.
How: Apply with the Sebastian County Assessor (real estate, homestead and freezes: 479-784-1516).
Low income: Project Concern utility discount50% off sewer
Project Concern is a City of Fort Smith program that gives low-income customers a discount on water, sewer and solid waste services used solely for residential purposes; it includes a 50% discount on sewer.
How: Request an application from Citizen Services, 479-784-2262 or CitizenServices@FortSmithAR.gov.
Free bulky item pickup (Dial-A-Truck)
Residents with an active City of Fort Smith sanitation account can schedule a pickup of up to 5 large items, such as appliances, couches and mattresses, once every 3 months at no additional fee.
How: Call 479-784-2262 or email solidwaste@fortsmithar.gov.
Free recycling and yard waste carts
A recycling cart is available at no cost, and you can request a city-issued 96 gallon yard waste can free of charge.
How: Request the carts from the City of Fort Smith Solid Waste Services.
Elderly or disabled: free walk-out cart service
Solid Waste Services offers a walk-out service for elderly or disabled residents who cannot move their carts to the curb, at no additional cost.
How: Call 479-784-2262 or email solidwaste@fortsmithar.gov to check eligibility.

Money dates

May 31Personal property must be assessed by May 31 or a 10% penalty applies.
Oct 15Property taxes are due March 1 through October 15; a 10% penalty applies to taxes not paid by October 15.
Oct 15Homestead credit filing deadline for the current taxes payable.

Who serves this house

Water: Fort Smith Water Utilities; City of Fort Smith residential water: $6.00 monthly base fee for a 5/8" or 3/4" meter, then $2.66 per CCF for 1-3 CCF, $3.86 per CCF for 4-7 CCF and $5.26 per CCF for 8 CCF and above (1 CCF = 748 gallons).
Property tax: 1.15% of value; 2025 tax year, payable Oct. 15, 2026 (Sebastian County)
Garbage: City of Fort Smith Solid Waste Services; One trash cart and one recycling container for $15.89 a month plus sales tax, on your city utility bill
Sewer: City of Fort Smith; Billed per CCF on your water use or your winter average, whichever is lower
Electricity: Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E); OG&E's Arkansas tariff lists a 4.0% franchise contract for Fort Smith
Gas: Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation (AOG); AOG's tariff lists Fort Smith among the communities it serves, with a 4.25% municipality tax rate
Schools: Fort Smith School District; Parts of the city are in the Greenwood School District

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Two sources: the Frog Bayou watershed, stored at Lake Fort Smith and treated at the Lake Fort Smith Treatment Plant, and the Lee Creek watershed, stored in Lee Creek Reservoir and treated at the Lee Creek Treatment Plant.
Lead: In 2025 tap sampling at 30 sites, the 90th percentile lead result was below 0.001 ppm; the action level is 0.015 ppm.
Deficiency: A March 25, 2025 state inspection found screening repairs and grading work needed on several tanks; the 2025 report lists no corrective action taken yet.

Other AR cities

What a Bella Vista house pays What a Conway house pays What a Bentonville house pays What a Centerton house pays What a Sherwood house pays What a Lowell house pays What a Fayetteville house pays What a Benton house pays What a Farmington house pays What a Siloam Springs house pays What a Jonesboro house pays What a Paragould house pays

How these numbers are made

Property tax: Arkansas assesses a home at 20% of market value and applies the total millage. For the 2025 taxes due Oct. 15, 2026, a home inside Fort Smith in the Fort Smith School District carries 57.5 mills: Fort Smith School District 41.5, City of Fort Smith 8 and Sebastian County 8. On market value that is 1.15%, about $2,048 on the $178,100 Census median before the homestead credit. Homes in the Greenwood School District part of the city pay 56 mills. Improvement district assessments, where a neighborhood has one, are not included.
Homestead credit: we subtract $600, the credit on the bills due in 2026 (Act 330 of 2025), as shown by the Sebastian County Assessor's Amendment 79 page. (An older Sebastian County page still shows $375.)
Water and sewer: City of Fort Smith residential rates as listed on the city's Understanding Your Bill page (archived March 2026): water $6.00 a month for a 5/8" or 3/4" meter plus $2.66 per CCF for the first 3 CCF, $3.86 for 4-7 CCF and $5.26 from 8 CCF; sewer (2026 step of the 3.5% yearly increases approved in February 2025) $4.82 plus $9.05 per CCF. Residential sewer bills use the lower of your winter average or actual use, so summer sewer bills can be lower than shown. The page starts at 3 CCF a month: Talk Business & Politics (May 26, 2026) reports that customers using 3 CCF a month are the majority of customer bills. City fees and taxes add roughly 13% to the water charge (the $13.98 water charge for 3 CCF is $15.75 with fees and taxes) and are not included. The city website blocks automated readers, so these pages are cited from Internet Archive copies.
Garbage: the City of Fort Smith's $15.89 monthly residential rate for one refuse and one recycling container, billed on the city utilities bill; sales tax on trash is not included. The city uses 65- and 95-gallon trash carts; the rate does not depend on the size.
Electricity: OG&E's current fuel and rider factors are not all published in one public document, so we price electricity at EIA's 2024 average for OG&E's Arkansas residential customers, 11.49 cents per kWh, which already spreads OG&E's monthly customer charge over the kWh. For comparison, OG&E's base residential rate R-1 is a $9.75 customer charge plus 5.80 cents per kWh for the first 1,400 kWh in summer and 3.60 cents for the first 600 kWh in winter, before the energy cost recovery and other riders. EIA's average revenue per kWh is defined to include franchise fees, fuel adjustments and other rider charges, so a current bill may differ from the 2024 average. Typical use is OG&E Arkansas's 2024 residential average, 1,028 kWh a month (EIA).
Gas: Arkansas Oklahoma Gas's commodity rate changes with its Cost-of-Gas Adjustment and is not published as a current figure in its tariff, so we price gas at Arkansas's 2025 average residential price from EIA, $19.25 per thousand cubic feet ($1.856 per therm at 10.37 therms per Mcf), which EIA defines as the total price including taxes, delivery and commodity charges. For comparison, AOG's tariff sets a $10.70 monthly customer charge plus $0.41208 per CCF distribution rate, before the cost of gas, riders and taxes. Typical use is Arkansas's 2024 average, 41.9 therms a month (EIA). Insurance is Arkansas's 2022 statewide average premium; sales tax on utility bills is not included.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Fort Smith compares

A typical Fort Smith house against the 9 Arkansas cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Fort Smith	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.15%	1.15%	in the middle of 8 other Arkansas cities we cover
Water	$168	$545	lower than 8 of the other 8 Arkansas cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$384	$816	lower than 7 of the other 7 Arkansas cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,351	$2,351	in the middle of 8 other Arkansas cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,740	$1,740	in the middle of 8 other Arkansas cities we cover
Total	$6,281	$8,135	lower than 7 of the other 8 Arkansas cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $168 a year at typical use, lower than 8 of the other 8 Arkansas cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $168 a year at typical use, lower than 8 of the other 8 Arkansas cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $384 a year, lower than 7 of the other 7 Arkansas cities we cover. Some cities bill sewer on the property tax bill instead, which is not counted here.

Ask: "Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here cost about $384 a year, lower than 7 of the other 7 Arkansas cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

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Common questions about Fort Smith house costs

What is the property tax rate in Fort Smith?

About 1.15% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, payable Oct. 15, 2026 (Sebastian County)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Fort Smith?

About $5,150 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Fort Smith?

About $46 a month for water and sewer at typical use (3 units, or 2,244 gallons a month) on Fort Smith Water Utilities.

How much does trash pickup cost in Fort Smith?

$16 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in Fort Smith?

Oct 15: Property taxes are due March 1 through October 15; a 10% penalty applies to taxes not paid by October 15.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Fort Smith?

Yes. Homeowners 65+ or disabled: freeze your assessed value: If you qualify for the homestead credit and are 65 or older or disabled, the taxable assessed value of your home can be frozen at its value at the next assessment date after you turn 65 or become disabled. Your tax can still change if millage rates change.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in Fort Smith?

Low income: Project Concern utility discount: Project Concern is a City of Fort Smith program that gives low-income customers a discount on water, sewer and solid waste services used solely for residential purposes; it includes a 50% discount on sewer. Request an application from Citizen Services, 479-784-2262 or CitizenServices@FortSmithAR.gov.

How much does a house in Fort Smith cost to run each year?

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