Posted on 06/04/2006 5:48:27 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Appraisals draw ire of residents BY JAMES GALLAGHER AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
The value of Ken Cowling's home jumped more than 34 percent this year, and he is starting to wonder if it will ever stop going up.
The home is now valued at more than $241,000, compared to about $180,000 last year. It's value has increased each year since 2003.
Cowling said he'd sell his house, "if I could find someone who would pay for it."
Several of Cowling's other properties also saw similar appraisal increases, including some duplexes. Cowling said he can't understand the increase since the duplex market in Lubbock appears to be overbuilt.
Protesting appraisals To protest an appraisal, contact the Lubbock Center Appraisal District at 762-5000.
So far, Cowling hasn't decided if he will challenge the appraisals. But more than 1,100 other Lubbock residents, down from 2005, have protested their property values with the Lubbock Central Appraisal District.
"Certainly, out of 134,000 parcels, we're hearing from people," said Dave Kimbrough, the district's chief appraiser. "If we missed one on the high side, we're going to hear from them."
Kimbrough said there are bound to be some mistakes in the appraisal process. Still, it is largely an accurate system, and LCAD is working to remedy any errors.
The Appraisal Review Board has scheduled hearings for the 1,123 complaints filed through May 30 - 1,270 were filed by that date in 2005 with about 130,000 parcels appraised.
Rachel Phelps, national executive director for the National Association of Mortgage Appraisers, said it is normal for people to file protests on their appraisals.
"Those are areas where it starts to hurt ," she said. "(Homeowners are) having to pay that money out."
Appraisals are largely determined by the sales prices of comparable homes in the area.
Phelps said the neighborhood can pull up the value of a home. For example, if two large homes were built on either side of a small home, the small home's value is going to be pulled up by the larger two even though it isn't comparable.
Kimbrough said property owners also may be seeing large increases because their property may have been undervalued in the past, and the district is getting it to proper market value.
"With the rate of appreciation that we've had in this market the past couple of years, we're always playing catch up," he said.
No matter how much the appraisal jumps, Texas law caps the increase in the taxable value at 10 percent for a person's primary residence of at least one year. This means that a home's appraised value can double, but the taxable value can only increase by 10 percent.
And homeowners 65 or older or disabled people have their taxable values capped at the value of the home when the person turned 65 or became disabled.
To comment on this story:
james.gallagher@lubbockonline.com 766-8753
brian.williams@lubbockonline.com
You need a "Proposition 13".
Before the 10% cap I routinely got hosed with over 20% increases. Protests seem to accomplish little except for wasting time and raising your blood pressure. Each year I receive the 10% appraisal increase (they call it a cap, but in reality it is a "guranteed by law" increase).
With all the new people moving into my county each year, and the revenues increasing at a steady 10% pace annually, where in the hell is all that money going? Our infrastructure is crumbling, city services never get any better (usually worse) and the rates on city supplied utilities rise steadily. Hmmmmmmmmm...
But our taxes were lowered!! Perry's campaign ad says so....
Mine went up exactly ten percent, or at the "cap", about 100 miles south of there.
Ours has gone up 10% every year too. When we first moved here, the taxes amounted to about 2 weeks pay. Today, taxes equal 2 MONTHS pay. Same house, same job. We simply can't afford 1/6th of our income for taxes alone.
Yes, and we surely could use a Tom Coburn-style fifth candidate for governor too.
Could it be to health insurance benefits and retirement packages?
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