| State Rep. Kolkhorst May End Aggressive Appraisals |
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| by Tom McGregor | Wed, Mar 25, 2009, 01:30 PM |
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The Sealy News reports that, “the state representative has filed a bill in the House that would help property owners battle what she called unfair appraisals and protect those property owners who challenge an appraisal.” Rep. Kolkhorst said, “I’ve been a supporter of appraisal caps for six years now. I’m coming at it from a different angle with this legislation. The way the legislation works is if you’re able to reduce your property appraisal value, before the appraisal review board, by 15 percent, that appraisal sticks for two years.” Frequently, Kolkhorst claimed, if a property owner persuades the appraisal review board each year to dispute their appraisals and it offers the office an opportunity to really investigate the values and not just come up with a number, she added. Residential and commercial properties would be applied to House Bill 500. Kolkhorst believes aggressive appraisal is the top complaint she hears from local constituents. Sealy News quotes the State rep. as saying, “I guess Kolkhorst’s legislative efforts may become part of a larger omnibus appraisal reform bill the state legislature could take up for consideration this session, or stand as its own which would “still make a big difference.” During the legislature’s interim session, a study on appraisals was conducted. She also filed legislation that would reduce taxes for If the legislation is passed, it would increase the small business exemption to $1 million, cut the margins tax rate for all companies by 25 percent, and raise the deductions a business can make against their revenue. To read the entire article from the Sealy News, link here:
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Comments (4)
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written by Byron George , March 25, 2009 The issue here is taxes. The appraisal district and the review board are mandated to value property at its market value. Most families most valuable asset is their property. Why would anyone complain that their asset is worth more this year than last? Easy answer: Taxes. What most taxpayers seem to not understand is that it is the taxing entities that raise our taxes. For instance, if the Dallas CAD raised values 5% across the board, then the taxing entities could lower their tax rate 5% and generate the same revenue. However, the taxing units do not lower their tax rate (leaving it the same as last year) and blaming the increase of the taxes on the appraisal district. There is a bill filed..I believe by Rep. Howard that would force the taxing units to send a notice to each property owner showing them what their taxes will be using the Effective Tax Rate and what the taxes will be using the prior year tax rate and the rollback rate. Now if Rep. Kolkhorst really wants to fix "Truth in Taxation" I hope she will co-sponsor Rep. Howards bill.
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written by Byron George , March 25, 2009 Tom, I must ask you this question. Lets say for instance that a property owner protests his/her value before the ARB. Let's say the ARB lowers the value from $200,000 to $180,000. The owner then sells the property for $200,000. Should the taxing units be able to recoup their lost taxes since the original $200,000 was actually the "market value" of the property? Agricultural rollback is 5 previous years. Would you support the same thing for property that sells? Any sale amount over the appraised value, would have to pay the difference in the taxes lost for the previous 5 years. Why/why not would you support this concept?
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written by Jason K , March 26, 2009 Interesting question Byron. I think the problem with your scenario is it would cause bureaucratic hell. I'm not sure it's really feasible... especially for someone who's been overpaying taxes. The taxes they've paid are already spent, so how do you refund them? Plus property values go up and down daily in theory. After all, a property is really only worth as much as someone else will pay for it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the answer could be. While recouping or paying more bases on sales price makes sense, I don't see how it could easily be implemented.
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written by Byron George , March 26, 2009 Actually Jason K., it is easily implemented. Property values are set as of January 1st of each year. Each year stands on its own. With the agricultural rollback the scenario goes like this. 1st year: Market Value-$1000 per acre. Ag Value $100 per acre. Lost value $900 multiplied by the tax rates for that specific tax year. This is done for each of the proceeding 5 years. For real property, the same thing would happen. Although I think the 5 years would need to be shortened to 2 or 3 years. I know for a fact that property owners have gone to Appraisal Review Boards around the state and protested value when the CAD has the property valued less than they paid within the last year. I also know of a property owner who protested her value and it was lowered by the review board. She sold the property 6 weeks later for more than the original appraisal district value. My estimate is that less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the property owners feel their value is overvalued. Overtaxed, absolutely, that is why I hope the legislature places the burden of "truth in taxation" where it belongs. With the people who Tax and not with the CAD. State Law and the Texas Constitution mandates that property will be appraised at its "market value" on January 1st of each year. Write comment
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Texans might see an end to aggressive appraisals under legislation recently introduced by State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst , R-Brenham.
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