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He suggested that a simple solution to these taxing entities overvaluing properties would be to add a box on the home owner's copy of the appraisal marked:
SOLD
While the home owner would still be free to protest the evaluation, checking this box would require the taxing entity to buy the house at their inflated price.
Last I heard 30 years ago, my ex-wife was teaching at Friendswood...
Just though ya'll'd wanta know.
We have received an overwhelming number of inquiries into who people should contact to demand a formal investigation into the revelations LST has made concerning FISD’s interactions with GCAD.
The good news is that an investigation is already underway. TX Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office has had this letter in its possession for over three weeks, and the matter is under review.
What you can do, however, is encourage them to pursue the investigation– not just into FISD and GCAD, but into the statewide practices of tax entities and appraisal districts.
Doing this is a little tricky– the AG’s office gets tons of phone calls on a wide variety of issues, and while the staff is polite and helpful, they have been trained to try to fit you into a particular "box" on their organizational chart. If you don’t fit perfectly, you’ll wind up in the wrong place or be told you need to call the Galveston Co. District Attorney, the State AG doesn’t handle this sort of thing, etc. etc.
So follow these instructions to the letter and you should be fine:
Call the AG’s office toll-free at 1-800-252-8011. (Para Espanol, por favor, primer numero uno ahora.) Tell the switchboard operator– using this exact language– the following:
"Hello, I would like to speak with a public information officer about encouraging the Attorney General to pursue an ongoing investigation."
NOTE: Don’t bother telling the switchboard operator what the investigation is about, how outraged you are, how your appraisal is too high, how your bunions hurt, or anything else. You are only going to complicate things and make it more likely you will be sent to the wrong "box".
You will be transfered. Once you connect with a public information officer, give them your name and city of residence. When they ask you the nature of your call simply say the following– word for word:
"I am calling to encourage the Attorney General to pursue his ongoing investigation of the interactions between FISD and GCAD, and to encourage him to expand his investigation into the possibility of similar actions taking place between taxing entities and appraisal district statewide. Thank you."
NOTE: Again, say nothing about what happened in your last appraisal protest hearing or about your neighbor’s barking dog; they don’t want to hear it, they can’t do anything about it, you will only complicate matters.
If the public information officer tells you this isn’t the right number to call, the AG doesn’t handle this sort of thing, etc., simply tell them:
"I appreciate what you are saying, but that determination has already been made. The investigation is already ongoing in AG Abbott’s office. I am simply encouraging him to pursue further a matter he is already looking into. Thank you."
Leave us a comment here at LST to let us know how your phone calls are going.
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