The envelopes have been opened and the phones at the Orange County Appraisal District have been ringing.
Property values are up across Orange County and homeowners are not happy. The letters informing the homeowners about the new values, along with an estimated possible tax cost, have been mailed. The Appraisal District’s values on land and homes are used by public entities to calculate property taxes.
However, the Appraisal District has nothing to do with tax rates or tax bills, Chief Appraiser Mike Cedars said. “Property values don’t necessarily mean your taxes will go up,” he said.
The value increases have come as a surprise to some homeowners. Cedars said home prices had been static for a few years across the county. The appraisal district uses sales prices as a base for assigning values. A couple of years ago, the district detected a slight rise in sales prices.
“This year, all of a sudden, in all the school districts except West Orange-Cove, there was an 8 percent increase,” Cedars said. “In West Orange-Cove, it was a 5 percent increase.”
County appraisal districts were set up through state legislation nearly 40 years ago. Cedars said the state comptroller’s office audits appraisal districts to assure property values are up-to-date across the state.
“The school districts can be penalized for state funding” if property values are not kept to standards, he said.
Tax rates for the new appraisals will be set during the summer for entities like cities, school districts and Orange County. State law requires the taxing entities to have an effective tax rate based on the new appraisals. The effective rate is the rate, using the new values, a taxing entity would need to set to raise the same amount of money as the old values. So it is possible if an appraisal went up, the tax rate might go down and the homeowner ends up paying the same as the year before.
“We don’t set the tax rates,” Cedars said.
Property owners who aren’t happy with their new values are able to appeal their appraisals. “If they’re in their pajamas, they can go to our website, orangecad.net, and file their protest online,” Cedars said. The online filing will allow a property owner to present evidence that can be used so the district’s staff will re-evaluate the appraisal.
People may also call the Appraisal District at 745-4777, or visit in person during office hours. The district’s office is in the McLewis area off Interstate 10 East at 9157 Interstate 10.
Cedars said if a property owner is still not satisfied after talking with the staff, the property owner will be able to file an appeal with the Appraisal Review Board, a group of citizens that hears appeals. Appeals must be filed by May 31. The property owner will then have a hearing with the review board. The review board will then vote on the appraisal.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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