As I mentioned earlier, homeowners need to protest their property tax appraisals this year. George Scott over at George Scott Reports has all the information you need to know why:
Average property value increases for Harris County homeowners and small to medium range businesses owners that hit 16{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} to19{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} and often significantly more in major areas throughout the county are expected to produce record numbers of protests during the 2014 property tax season, according to two aggressive property tax agents who have decades of experience in the industry.
In contrast, the Houston Realtors report that home values increased 8 to 10{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} between the 4th quarter of 2012 to the 4th quarter of 2013, or about half of HCAD’s 2014 increase, independent analysis of the data indicates.
…
O’Connor and independent tax agent John Osenbaugh both predict that based upon their decades of experience following these matters that HCAD will likely confront a minimum of 400,000 protests in 2014 but that the number could easily rise to 500,000 or more once the general public focuses upon how overly aggressive HCAD has been in determining values this year.
Both agents represent homeowners and small to medium range businesses of a wide variety including commercial property owners.
Both agree that HCAD’s decision to dramatically boost property values will be a financial ‘windfall’ for tax jurisdictions who will have the luxury of obtaining cumulatively hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue without having to pretend they actually raised taxes. O’Connor estimates the one-year increase in property taxes for all of the hundreds of Harris County tax entities will be $1 billion, a record windfall in additional taxes in one year.
Now you see why local politicians love the current property tax system – they get a boatload of extra money to dole out while claiming that they didn’t raise taxes because they don’t have to raise tax rates. Bunk. A penny more in the budget of any government body is a raise in taxes.
Protest your appraisal. If we can get 500,000 homeowners on board, the appraisal district will have to take notice and stop their abuse of the system. This is NOT a partisan issue. Tax rates can be partisan but appraisals should be fair across the board and not subject to the whims of bureaucrats. Please consider filing a protest – and tell your neighbors to do the same.
For more, read George Scott’s analysis.
I’d like to highlight a comment by Pat O’Connor on this issue:
The entire purpose of the appraisal district is to raise taxes without politicians having to vote for tax increases. The historical background is more complicated. And the technical reason for the appraisal district is to equally spread the tax burden between all tax payers. But property taxes in Harris County will increase by about $1 billion due to a 19{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} increase in residential and a 19{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} increase in commercial.
Most home owner appeals are successful and there is no cost to appeal.
Only about half of HCAD’s single family values are within 10{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of market value. A 10{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} reduction in your value on a $200,000 house would reduce property taxes by about $540, based on a 2.7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} tax rate and without considering the exemption.