Tarrant property values up

Property values are up, and that’s a good sign for the Tarrant County economy.

For the second year in a row, the appraised value for commercial and residential properties after exemptions increased about 5 percent.

In Fort Worth, the total net taxable value was $48.7 billion, a 6 percent increase from $45.9 billion in 2014, although that number is likely to drop slightly, pending about 1,600 protests from property owners.

G.K. Maenius, Tarrant County’s administrator, told the Star-Telegram’s Sandra Baker that the rise in net taxable value is “very healthy.”

While the increase is “healthy,” it is also relatively modest given the dramatic surge in real estate values over recent months.

At the end of March, median home prices were up 13.6 percent in Fort Worth and 8.7 percent in Arlington from the prior year.

But those data won’t be part of the appraisal district valuations before 2016, as their calculations are based on data that lags about a year.

Still, the increased values will mean that taxing entities within the county, including municipalities and schools, will have slightly larger coffers to draw upon as they begin preparing their budgets for the coming year.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Tarrant property values up."