The City of Shoreacres City Council passed a resolution last night requesting that the Harris County Appraisal District re-appraise all properties damaged by flooding from Hurricane Harvey.
WHEREAS, the State of Texas in Section 23.02 of the Tax Code authorizes the reappraisal of property damaged in a disaster area; and,
WHEREAS, the Governor of the State of Texas has declared a State of Disaster for Harris County; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Shoreacres lies within the territorial boundaries of Harris County;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SHOREACRES, TEXAS:
THAT the City Council of the City of Shoreacres, hereby requests that the Harris County Appraisal District re-appraise approximately 70 properties within the boundaries of the City of Shoreacres, as listed by the City Manager of the City of Shoreacres.
I introduced this resolution because I think it is the right thing to do. I hope that other taxing entities in Harris County join the City of Shoreacres in doing all that they can do for those that had their lives disrupted by Hurricane Harvey.
Good for them, I have been trying to get an answer on if and when they will be doing this from the city of Baytown, GCCISD and Harris County Commissioners and all I hear is crickets.
Unfortunately, the Tax Code’s disaster reappraisal provision and cost incurred make its implementation impractical for all but small homogeneous taxing units. And, then most taxing units facing additional costs for disaster cleanup etc., will be reluctant to vote for a request for the reappraisal Also,the proration of the appraisal value loss substantially reduces (only three plus months) the tax reduction benefit to the taxpayers.
Yes Don you are correct. It is expensive to the jurisdiction and the benefit is very small to the property owner. The other problem is if the value is reduced by 50{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} you give FEMA the opportunity then to say whether or not the property should be rebuilt.