poconnor

  Property tax assessments for homes were increased by 15.09% for the tax year 2021, based on a review of 7,377 homes valued by the Hidalgo Appraisal District.  Homes valued at $1 million or higher had the largest increases, average 16.5% higher than 2020. Review of 7,377 homes valued at $300,000 or indicates an increase in assessed value of $2.75 billion, up 12.6% from 3.10 billion in 2021.  Total property taxes for 2021 for homes valued over $300,000 would total $86.72 million, based on a 2.7% tax rate before considering homestead exemptions. Hidalgo has 156 homes valued at $1 million or higher.  They are valued at $0.19 billion in 2021, up from $0.17 billion in 2020.  Values were increased for 148 homes, reduced for 1 home, and remained flat for 7 homes. Homes valued at $300,000 to 500,000 increased from 1.85 billion in 2020 to 2.08 billion in 2021, an 12.7% increase.  Of the 5,894 in this price range, values were increased for 5,678, reduced for 154, an...

  Property tax assessments for homes were increased by 17.5% for the tax year 2021, based on a review of 28,561 homes valued by the Hays Appraisal District.  Homes valued at $500,000 to $1,000,000 had the largest increases, average 18.54% higher than 2020. Review of 28,561 homes valued at $300,000 or indicates an increase in assessed value of $12.06 billion, up 16.4% from 14.04 billion in 2021.  Total property taxes for 2021 for homes valued over $300,000 would total $175.6 million, based on a 2.7% tax rate before considering homestead exemptions. Homes valued at $300,000 to 500,000 increased from 5.42 billion in 2020 to 6.32 billion in 2021, an 16.7% increase.  Of the 17,026 in this price range, values were increased for 16,172, reduced for 767, and remained flat for 87. Luxury homes valued at $500,000 to $1,000,000 rose to $6.27 billion in 2021 from $5.39 billion in 2020, a 16.2% increase.  This group of homes had the smallest level of increase, but still a si...

  Property tax assessments for homes were increased by 7.64% for the tax year 2021, based on a review of 57,320 homes valued by the Montgomery Appraisal District.  Homes valued at $300,000 to 500,000 had the largest increases, average 8.7% higher than 2020. Review of 57,320 homes valued at $300,000 or indicates an increase in assessed value of $26.27 billion, up 7.4% from 28.23 billion in 2021.  Total property taxes for 2021 for homes valued over $300,000 would total $776.8 million, based on a 2.7% tax rate before considering homestead exemptions. Montgomery has 2,629 homes valued at $1 million or higher.  They are valued at $3.78 billion in 2021, up from $3.61 billion in 2020.  Values were increased for 1,551 homes, reduced for 875 homes, and remained flat for 203 homes. Homes valued at $300,000 to 500,000 increased from 13.45 billion in 2020 to 14.63 billion in 2021, an 8.7% increase.  Of the 39,301 in this price range, values were increased for 29,257, r...

 You qualify for an over-65 homestead exemption the day you or your spouse turn 65.  Other requirements are you must own the house and it must be your primary residence. Most issues related to Texas property taxes are based on a January 1 date.  The over-65 homestead becomes effective when you or your spouse turn 65.  It is prorated for the first year based on the portion of the year you are 65. Benefits of an over-65 homestead exemption include: School property taxes are frozen forever. If you live to be 100, your school taxes would never rise (unless you remodel or add-on to the house). Substantially higher homestead exemptions in many tax entities. You can allow property taxes to accrue with $0 in annual payments. Upon the death of the second spouse, the balance plus interest is due.  However, there are no penalties. If one spouse dies, the surviving spouse can retain the over-65 homestead exemption if they are 55 year of age or older. Homestead exemptions ca...

  Typical appeal Most tax appeals have a reasonable to good resolution.  Between the informal hearing and the appraisal review board, there are two opportunities for reasonable people to review evidence. Atypical Case George is a friend who purchased a house for $350,000.  The house was a little different.  The house was marketed for 2 years (this occurred 5 years ago).  The house had been listed for $500,000, but there were no takers at that price.  The price was gradually lowered to $350,000. The sale occurred early in the year of the appeal deadline.  An appeal was filed.  The informal appraiser “did not understand” how a house listed at $500,000 could sell at $350,000.  The appraisal review board also got stuck on the disparity between the initial list price and the sales price.  So after the informal and appraisal review hearings, the house was valued at $485,000, just a token reduction. People and System Freeze Periodically, apprai...

  Big news!  During the past 40 years, there was no consequence if the appraisal district or the appraisal review board ignored the laws regarding property tax hearings including the following: Sending proper hearing notice, Providing hearing evidence 14 days prior to the hearing if requested, Only providing lawful evidence at the ARB hearing, Ruling in favor of the property owner unless the appraisal district proves their case “by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing”, Ruling in favor of the property owner if the appraisal district does not present lawful evidence, Considering appeals on unequal appraisal, including both the appraisal district’s and owners’ unequal appraisal evidence, Allow the property owner to cross-examine the appraisal district’s appraiser. Two sections of House Bill 988 provide a mechanism for property owners to remedy unlawful behavior by the appraisal district or appraisal review board during appraisal review board hearings. Provide...

  Are you thinking about the taxes you need to pay for this year are quite high when compared to the previous year? Then you need to check whether your property is assessed properly. Here is a brief idea of property tax assessment  and how to appeal it properly. What is a property tax assessment? Since property taxes  are the main source of income for the government, The cost of services provided by the government is primarily acquired from the property taxes paid by homeowners. Every year many homeowners get a bill but they are not aware of how the calculation is done. Here is a simple example to help you understand the assessment value. House A has a value of $250,000. The cost of services for that year is $1000. The government calculates the tax rate by assessing all the properties in the town. In this case, we can consider the tax rate as 0.15%. The tax rate for house A is given as 250,000 * 0.15 = 375.00 The property tax bill for house A is  $375. The property t...