Here’s what happened to Tarrant property appraisals this year. It’s not what you think
Tarrant property owners: You may be getting good news this year.
In the midst of the economy-busting novel coronavirus, the values of more than half of the residential and commercial properties in Tarrant County stayed the same or went down.
“Everybody has been worried,” said Chandler Crouch, a real estate agent who helps people with their protests for free. “The last thing anybody wants is a huge property tax bill this year.”
Of Tarrant County’s 662,100 residential and commercial accounts, 171,345 didn’t change in market value and 283,345 saw a decrease, said Jeff Law, Tarrant County’s chief appraiser.
“In past years, we saw steeper increases,” he said. “We allowed some depreciation to roll on some accounts.”
One big reason for the smaller than average number of increases in appraisals, Law said, is because of a new law that went into effect Jan. 1.
That law, House Bill 1313 by state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, states that if you are successful in protesting your home value, appraisers can’t come back and increase it the next year without “clear and convincing evidence” that it is merited.
“Unless we had substantial evidence, we weren’t allowed to raise” values, Law said.
King, who lives in Parker County and hasn’t gotten his home appraisal yet, said he’s encouraged that the new law is making a difference.
“That’s what we were trying to do, to hold down the appraisals,” he said. “This year, especially, with the economic impact of the virus and all the shutdowns, I really hope appraisal districts will be very cautious and conservative in their appraisals.”
With “the economic bombshell that hit us all ... common sense would tell you appraisals probably should not increase and should decrease.”
Law did note that even if the market value didn’t go up on a house, the appraised value may.
If the appraised value, which also is known as a homestead capped value, was limited by the appraisal cap last year, that value could increase as much as 10% on this year’s appraisal notice. And that could raise property tax bills.
“It’s nothing more than a math calculation,” Law said, stressing that protests are filed on market values, not appraised values.
Protests
If your property value stayed the same or went down, you may not receive an appraisal notice in the mail. But you can always go online to tad.org to check.
These notices, which were mailed around May 1, are not bills.
Cities, counties, school districts and other taxing entities still have to set tax rates that will be used to calculate tax bills later in the year. After that, tax assessor collectors will send tax bills in October and payments will be made to those offices.
Anyone who believes their appraisal is higher than it should be may file a protest.
Around 7,700 protests have been filed. Property owners have until June 1 to file protests. Last year, about 208,000 protests were filed.
Law encourages people to file their protests online at tad.org. TAD also has an automated system online that may offer a lower value than the one listed. Or it might approve a lower value that you suggest for your home. You may also send in the form that comes in the mail with the appraisal.
Appraisers also may be able to help property owners on the phone.
“TAD did a great thing for all of us,” Crouch said. “We’ve definitely had more people tell us they’re not interested in protesting this year.”
But he stressed that just because the value of a home didn’t go up, that doesn’t mean the tax bill won’t increase.
And anyone who feels the value is too high should protest.
“You owe it to your family to know if the value is fair,” Crouch said.
Call or email
For now, the TAD office remains closed to the public.
If you pull up outside the office, there are signs directing people to tune in to a radio station that will broadcast information about how to contact TAD. There is a drop box in front of the office where people can drop off exemption requests.
And workers urge people to communicate with TAD online and by phone.
Law said he doesn’t know when the office will reopen to the public, but he will re-evaluate that on May 18.
“We aren’t a business trying to generate revenue,” Law said. “I’m more concerned with making sure that the public stays safe and our staff stays safe.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 5:55 AM.
