Property Taxes owed by a Texas mineral rights holder? [View all]
My spouse holds a tiny piece of mineral rights on some land in Texas. This passed to her (and dozens and dozens of other family descendants, passed down over 2-3 generations) maybe 10 years ago. We've just received a Notice of Tax Lien showing we still owe property taxes for last year. The law firm sending the notice represents : a) the county; b) the county Underground Water District; and c) the county Independent School District.
The interesting thing is that we don't recall ever having had to pay property taxes over the last 10 years. Someone else owns the actual property at ground level; my spouse's family members own mineral rights underground. If some oil/gas company were to ever drill on this land, they would have to execute a lease with the actual property owners, and then pay a few pennies to us based on whatever gets extracted to the surface.
Can anyone in Texas tell me if a mineral rights holder paying property taxes is normal? And if so, why haven't we been hit up for these taxes for the last 10 years? 
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