County's Chief Appraiser Speaks About Concerns Over Property Values

SAN ANGELO, TX — This past week, we have seen an increased level of concern over recent property values that were calculated by the Tom Green County Appraisal District. As Chief Appraiser, I want to assure everyone that the Notice of Appraised Value can be protested to the appraisal review board if an individual or business chooses to do so. Appraised property values are the beginning of a process that ultimately determines your tax bill once your local governmental entities complete their part of the process.

Key to the process is the appraised value, but there are other factors in determining your tax bill. The appraisal district only determines property value. The tax bill is calculated by multiplying the appraised value by the local governments’ tax rates. Tax rates are set by the governing bodies of local governments that can impose property taxes. Truth-in-taxation laws give taxpayers a voice in decisions that affect property tax rates and property taxes. In early August, these local governments take the first step toward adopting tax rates by calculating and publishing two rates required by the Property Tax Code--the No-New-Revenue and Voter-Approval tax rates.

The governing body of each local government decides whether taxes on property will increase. If, for example, a local government’s budget increases, then a tax rate higher than the No-New-Revenue rate could be adopted by the local government. If a governing body proposes to adopt a tax rate that exceeds the No-New-Revenue rate, it must publish a quarter-page notice in a local newspaper to announce two public hearings. The hearings give taxpayers an opportunity to voice their opinions about the proposed tax increase.

Property is appraised using mass-appraisal techniques, which means that they are determined from databases containing sales and construction-cost information. Every appraisal district follows this approach. This method, while accurate, does not pick up things that we might not know about such as repairs needed to the interior or exterior of your property and sale considerations that do not show up in the public records. Frankly, valuation adjustments have and will be made throughout the appraisal process, which is true for all appraisal districts during this time of the year. My staff and I will continue to make those adjustments when the need for them is brought to our attention.

This year, we delivered over 50,000 notices of appraised value. Even though the process of mass appraisals is the process used by appraisal districts, the process of protesting values and resolving those protests is done on a case-by-case basis. Your questions and concerns will be handled personally and professionally by the staff of TGCAD.

To protest your appraisal, visit this page on the Tom Green County Appraisal District website. Search for your property. On a desktop display at the upper right, there is a link that reads, "File Notice of Protest for this Property." Click on that link and follow the instructions.

Editor's note: San Angelo LIVE! will host a LIVE! Stream with interviews of all elected officials about the appraisal crisis Wednesday night from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. on the home page of San Angelo LIVE!, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Rumble.