Houston City Council recently passed the biggest tax rate cut in decades – but you probably won't notice.

Why?

Just because the tax rate has fallen doesn't mean your tax bill will, because that rate is applied to the value of your property, and most Houstonians' values have been rising and will continue to rise.

The average homestead in the city has increased in value from about $138,400 two years ago to $154,200 last year to $165,800 this year.

So even though the city has cut tax rates each of the last two years, from almost 64 cents to about 63 cents and now to roughly 60 cents per $100 of home value, the average homeowner will still see his bill increase.

Specifically, the average city tax bill has risen from $884 two years ago to $973 last year and to $997 this year.

These cuts, it should be noted, didn't happen because Mayor Annise Parker wanted them. The cuts were driven by the decade-old, voter-imposed revenue cap, which took effect for the first time last year. That mandate limits what the city can collect year over year in property taxes to the combined rates of inflation and population growth.

As the chart shows, without the revenue cap and resulting rate cuts, the average homeowner's city tax bill would have been $12 higher last year and $50 higher this year.

Still, it's noteworthy that the city tax rate is the lowest it's been since 1987.

Another reason you won't notice, of course, is that school district taxes are far higher than city taxes, regardless of what local city you live in.

And while the city of Houston has cut its tax rate by about 3.75 cents over the last two years, Houston ISD has raised its rate by 4 cents. So there's that.