By Ashley Sava
Hays County residents started seeing their annual notice of home appraisals in the mail this week. The Hays Central Appraisal District started sending out the notices — more than 76,000 of them — on May 1.
And some homeowners aren’t happy about what they read in those letters.
Yvonne Flores-Cale responded to the Hays Free Press in a Facebook post about the 2015 appraisals, writing, “Holy Guacamole! Ours went [up] 30,000. We have done zero updates to this house. I will be protesting this FOR SURE!”
The appraisals are considered preliminary as property owners have until June 1 to file a protest to the Appraisal Review Board if they want to appeal.
At least one Central Texas commercial appraiser who works in Travis County, and who owns a home in Hays County, said he thinks there is going to be a lot of public outcry about the notices this year.
Why?
Because Hays County’s overall 2015 preliminary market value is $19.56 billion, up 14.9 percent from $17.03 billion in 2014.
That means while only one local taxing entity, Austin Community College, raised its tax rates with voter approval, overall property values increased according to the appraisal district.
The result is more property tax money will funnel into local coffers, which include municipalities, Hays County, school districts, fire and emergency service and ACC for those in Hays CISD.
For example, if the property tax on a $200,000 home was $.52 in Kyle, that’s $.52 for every $100 home valuation. That homeowner would pay $1,040. But if the home appraises at $220,000 — even if taxes remain at $.52 per $100 valuation — the homeowner would pay $1,144 in property taxes to the city.
The commercial appraiser, who did not want to provide his name because of his job, said he thinks many more Hays County residents will protest — and indeed thinks they should — their appraisal this year once they see the increase.
He believes the problem is homes haven’t been fairly assessed over the years and now the state is pushing to make sure all counties are equalized.
Jenna Harper wrote on Facebook, “Protest always. Many people believe it will lower your property value when you are ready to sell but that is not true. I use a company in Houston to protest every year and they have produced a small tax savings. The taxes are really high. We moved out here to escape the high tax rates and now they are higher than the Austin taxes!”
Across Hays County, the average market value for homes increased 12.4 percent.
In an emailed response about the appraisals, Buda realtor R. Victoria Peterson of Team Aston said, “The real estate market has made a recovery. Therefore, due to typical supply and demand issues, we have also experienced an increase in property values as a result.”
She added, “Many property owners are unhappy about the increase. However, many properties have not been accurately appraised … throughout the past and property owners have been paying less in property taxes than actually warranted. It looks like the county is increasing the assessed values to try to be more in line with market value in some cases.”
David Valle, chief appraiser for Hays County, said anyone who wants to appeal their appraisal on the grounds that it’s not equitable would need to find a reasonable number of similar properties then adjust for any differences between their property and those comparable properties.
“If the value per square food of their property is above the median price per square foot of the adjusted comparables it would be considered unequal,” he wrote in an emailed response.
For property owners who want to protest their appraised values, the deadline to file is June 1, or 30 days after the District mailed the notice, whichever is later.
Last year the Hays Central Appraisal District received 8,678 protests. Of those, 7072 were settled and 1606 went to the formal hearing phase. According to data from Valle, 966 appraisals were changed by the ARB, 65 stayed the same (no change) and 575 are unsettled (no show).
In terms of documentation needed to prove inequity, Valle said property value information is on the Hays County CAD website.
Details on Hays County 2015 appraisals
- Commercial and industrial property increased in value by 15.9 percent ($1.64 billion in 2014 to $1.9 billion this year)
- Residential multi-family property saw the biggest increase in value — 31 percent — from $995 million in 2014 to $1.3 billion this year. [Increase was due to new construction, completion of new apartment projects and a strong demand for multi-family housing.]
- Hays County added more than 2,300 new homes and 68 new commercial buildings to the appraisal roll.
- Total new improvements added more than $665 million to the taxable value.
Want to file a protest about your home appraisal?
Property owners can file a protest at the Hays Central Appraisal District office, located at 21001 N. IH 35, Kyle, Texas 78640, call (512) 268-2522 or visit www.hayscad.com.
The step-by-step directions are:
• Click on the Property Search tab to access your account.
• Click on the Protest icon to access the online appeal program.
• Enter the passcode located on your appraisal notice then follow the prompts.
• If you file your protest using the online appeal program, do not file a written protest.
Need a passcode? Send your written protest to: [email protected] .
If you do not wish to file a protest online, you still have the option of filing a protest by completing the notice of protest form enclosed and returning it to the CAD office.
The deadline for filing a protest, either online or otherwise, is June 1, 2015.
Kim Hilsenbeck contributed to this story.
