Appraisal Values to Make Another Jump

Local property owners may be in for an unpleasant surprise when they open the mail this week.

Fayette County Appraisal District (Fayette CAD) sent out notices of preliminary property values on Monday, May 15. Chief Appraiser Richard Moring said home values rose by an average of 20 percent this year. Land values jumped by around 30 percent on average. That comes on top of a roughly 20 percent increase in values last year.

Moring said the public school districts in Fayette County were at risk of losing state funding if his office did not raise appraisals again this year.

“The long and short of it is, we were under-appraising,” Moring said. “Every two years the state does a property value study in which they test all the values in school districts. They pull a random sample, pick properties and compare the values we have on the record to what they deem the market value to be. That gives a ratio, and you want that ratio to be between 95 and 105 percent. We came up short this last year. So yes, the values are going to increase again and we’ll see where we’re at in January of next year.”

“If we continue to underappraise, at the end of the day, the schools are at risk of losing state funding,” Moring added. “If we flunk again, there’s a potential for bad consequences.” Moring said some areas of the County will see higher appraisals than others, depending on the level of real estate activity in the area.

“The La Grange area is where we’re seeing a lot of activity,” he said. “Round Top remains strong. Also, we’re seeing a lot of activity in Flatonia and Schulenburg but not quite as robust.”

The deadline for property owners to protest their appraisals is June 14. Protest hearings will begin around June 20, Moring said.

A few provisions in state law provide property owners with some protection from rising appraisals. Taxes on homestead properties may not increase by more than 10 percent over the previous year. School taxes may not increase at all for homeowners who are disabled or over the age of 65.

On the other hand, skyrocketing appraisals mean that local governments can increase revenue without raising property tax rates.