Property values are complicated, and often the source of debate — and mistrust.
May 16 is the deadline to appeal property valuations, and many Rio Grande Valley residents are expected to contest their assessments. Many of them could have a strong case, as in the past government valuations have been much higher than actual market prices paid for the same or similar property.
Many others, however won’t bother, believing that the cards are stacked against them — after all, the county appraisal review boards that handle such appeals are empanelled by judges who depend on those same revenue streams for their own salaries and office budgets.
Texas is one of only seven states that do not charge an income tax, and it’s certainly something to brag about. Unfortunately, that lack of revenue source doesn’t necessarily convince cities, school boards, counties and other tax-supported entities to be more frugal or to make the hard decision of telling the public that it’s not their job to provide certain public services, which is the intent of limiting those resources.
Thus, government bodies in this state probably rely more on property taxes than those in many other states. Because levies on personal property are easy to see and quantify, they are more likely to draw complaints from people who believe their burden is unfair.
Property taxes are a two-sided monster; since they are determined by multiplying the tax rate by each property’s valuation, a change in either side affects a property owner’s tax bill.
Responding to complaints about high property taxes, the state legislature has limited the amount that local governments can raise property taxes in any given year, or provided other forms of tax relief. For example, voters on Saturday approved two new limits on property taxes; one increases the homestead exemption for all property owners while the other benefits elderly and disabled taxpayers.
Local officials often use those limitations to their advantage, boasting that they approved a fiscal budget with only a minimal tax rate increase, or perhaps no increase at all.
In reality, however, they often enjoy more revenue anyway, benefiting from increases in property valuations as well as additional assessments resulting from newly developed property.
Property owners who believe valuation increases are unreasonable can file a protest, using state Form 50-132 which is available through the state Comptroller’s Office website, comptroller.texas.gov.
Unfortunately, the appeals process is cumbersome and expensive for both sides, especially if homeowners hire lawyers who handle such appeals.
There’s only so much our lawmakers can to do limit tax rate increases. And it’s not so easy to impose similar restrictions on changes in property value, as they are affected by the economy, new development and individual home additions and improvements. However, they might consider a special committee or investigation into ways to improve the valuation and appeals process.
Most importantly, officials need to be reminded constantly that the taxes they impose takes money from people against their will, and they need to fight the urge to get greedy.
