Mountain Home, AR · Updated Oct 2026

What a Mountain Home home costs each year

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

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Mountain Home house

$5,934a year · $495 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $169,800; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A Mountain Home house at the typical market value ($169,800) costs about $5,900 a year: $850 property tax and charges, $1,260 water and sewer, $260 trash, $1,820 electricity, $1,740 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 29, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

One change saves this house about $381 a year:

Bring water use down to 3 units
$381 a year
Above 3 units a month, Mountain Home Water & Sewer Department charges $5.29 a unit instead of $0.00.
How: Most of the top tier is outdoor watering: fix leaks and water less often in summer.

Worth checking

Apply for the homestead creditUp to $600 a year off the tax bill
Homeowners must apply for the homestead credit with the county assessor's office. October 15 is the deadline to file the Homestead Credit Application.
How: Apply with the county assessor's office.
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 for the freeze with the county assessor's office.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartResidential customers can choose a 35-gallon, 65-gallon or 95-gallon cart.

Value before exemptionsEnter your home's market (appraised) value from the Baxter County Assessor; the calculator takes 20% of it as the assessed value. Amendment 79 limits yearly increases in a homestead's taxable value after a reappraisal, so a long-held home may be taxed on less.

I live here and have the

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,740, Arkansas statewide average HO-3 homeowners premium for 2022 (NAIC data via Triple-I).

Your use

Water, thousands of gallons a month

On your water bill. A typical house uses 5,000–8,000 gallons.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your Entergy Arkansas bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Money dates

Oct 15Property taxes not paid by October 15 are delinquent and the collector extends a 10% penalty.
Oct 15Deadline to file the Homestead Credit Application.
MonthlyWater and sewer bills are mailed on the last business day of each month and due by the 15th; a 10% late penalty applies after the due date.

Who serves this house

Water: Mountain Home Water & Sewer Department; Residential inside-city 3/4 inch meter: monthly minimum includes 2,000 gallons; over 2,000 gallons is $3.60 per 1,000 gallons for water.
Property tax: 0.85% of value; 2025 tax year, payable Oct. 15, 2026 (Baxter County)
Garbage: Methvin Sanitation (Waste Connections); Residential trash is on the Mountain Home Water & Wastewater bill
Sewer: Mountain Home Water & Sewer Department; Monthly minimum plus a charge per 1,000 gallons over 2,000
Electricity: Entergy Arkansas; Entergy's franchise-fee table lists Mountain Home
Schools: Mountain Home School District; 32.16 mills on the 2025 millage report

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The City of Mountain Home water source is Lake Norfork in Baxter County, Arkansas.

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 Mountain Home in the Mountain Home School District carries 42.66 mills: school 32.16, city 2 and Baxter County 8.5. On market value that is 0.853%, about $1,449 on the $169,800 Census median before the $600 homestead credit. Voluntary millages, if any, are not included.
Water and sewer: the city's rates effective 9-20-26 for a 3/4 inch residential inside-city meter. The $22.18 water minimum adds the water charge $10.08, Safe Water Act $0.40, debt service $9.71 and the state, city and county tax lines ($1.31, $0.43, $0.25) shown on the rate sheet; it covers 2,000 gallons. Gallons over 2,000 are $3.60 per 1,000 plus the 6.50%, 2.125% and 1.25% taxes ($3.9555). Sewer is $34.30 including 2,000 gallons, then $6.38 per 1,000 gallons; the sheet shows no tax on sewer. Typical use is not published, so the page starts at its default.
Garbage: Methvin Sanitation is the city's exclusive franchise hauler, billed on the water and wastewater bill. The $21.95 monthly rate is the single residential rate in the council's Dec. 2024 contract as reported by the Mountain Home Observer; no current rate is published on the city or Methvin pages. The contract ties yearly adjustments to an index, so the rate may have risen since Dec. 2024, and the city keeps a $1 billing fee. Sales tax may be billed on top; that tax rate is unverified and not modelled.
Electricity: Entergy Arkansas Schedule RS present rates from its 2026 rate case notice with the listed riders, year-round weighted, as in the Searcy record; Entergy's franchise table lists Mountain Home at a 4.1212% billing factor. North Arkansas Electric Cooperative also serves parts of Baxter County and is not modelled. No gas utility serving the city is proven in an official source, so no gas cost is modelled.
Insurance is Arkansas's 2022 NAIC statewide average premium, the latest official series; current quotes may be higher.
Electricity modelling: fixed $12.7059 = $8.40 x (1+52.4369%-1.1760%) with FRP and tax adjustment riders; $0.12571/kWh adds CCR, ECR, EECR, FLCF, GGR and MISO riders to the base energy charge, year-round weighted.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Mountain Home compares

A typical Mountain Home house against the 28 Arkansas cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Mountain Home	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	0.85%	1.12%	lower than 25 of the other 27 Arkansas cities we cover
Water	$491	$543	lower than 18 of the other 27 Arkansas cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$774	$688	higher than 15 of the other 25 Arkansas cities we cover
Trash	$263	$242	higher than 13 of the other 19 Arkansas cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$1,817	$2,214	lower than 19 of the other 27 Arkansas cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,740	$1,740	in the middle of 27 other Arkansas cities we cover
Total	$5,934	$7,290	lower than 22 of the other 27 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. Property tax rate

The fact: Mountain Home's property tax rate is 0.85%, lower than 25 of the other 27 Arkansas cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Mountain Home is 0.85%, lower than 25 of the other 27 Arkansas cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Mountain Home house costs

What is the property tax rate in Mountain Home?

About 0.85% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, payable Oct. 15, 2026 (Baxter County)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Mountain Home?

About $3,666 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Mountain Home?

About $105 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on Mountain Home Water & Sewer Department.

How much does trash pickup cost in Mountain Home?

$22 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in Mountain Home?

Oct 15: Property taxes not paid by October 15 are delinquent and the collector extends a 10% penalty.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Mountain Home?

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.

How much does a house in Mountain Home cost to run each year?

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