(Expletive Deleted) Property Taxes

I'm climbing out from behind the 8 Ball to tell you about another one of those challenging experiences where I ended up with less than the desired result. I went to protest the appraised value of my home with the County Appraisal District.

Annual Chore

We do this every year, and it is really one of the most useless, helpless, and hopeless events to have to go through. Bless my wife for preparing all the documentation. You see, the law in Texas allows the county to raise your property tax at least 10% per year. So that means your County Tax Assessor raises it 10% every year.

Market Related

Now, the property value is supposed to be market driven. In other words, if homes are appreciating in value in your neighborhood, tax values go up a like amount. If home values go down in your neighborhood, taxes are also supposed to go down. Right?

Wrong

Not according to our County Tax Assessor. I had documentation with me when I went to the meeting that showed home values in our neighborhood were declining. We had 17 Foreclosures in 2008 and 3 in the first quarter 2009. The average sales per sq ft dropped more than $5.00 a square foot, and the length of time it takes to move a home went from 67 days to 101 days.

In my particular situation, I live in a golf community though not on a golf course lot. After going through the list of like homes for comparison we discover our lot is valued at 2 times more than homes on the golf course. How is that possible?

My Case

I reviewed all this information with the first person who was assigned to me when my name was called. This person must be paid to play dumb or is just a stalling tactic to get you to give up and go home. I refuse to give up!

Therefore, I was remanded to another room to wait and see the appraisal board. When my name was called, again I presented my documentation. It was like talking to a blank wall. The Deputy Chief Appraiser told me it was the LAW that they could raise my taxes.

Their Action

I agreed that it was based on market values improving, but that property values hadn’t gone up and that it was not only unfair but also almost immoral to raise taxes during a declining market and economy. My remarks had no impact on him. He didn’t even address the issue of my lot (land) value being higher than lots on the golf course.

The net affect was, by pushing the issue, they lowered my appraised value a bit. So it only escalates 6% instead of 10% when in reality, they should have lowered the taxes to emulate the market value. I know, all of you on the east and west coast are wishing your property taxes were as low as mine, but that's not the point. The point is that they should not have increased the tax appraisal on my property or anyone's property here.

Bringing Meaning to Madness

Sorry, but there's no way to bring meaning to the madness of tax appraisers. You really can't fight city hall. Or tax appraisers.