Just got off the phone with Travis County Appraisal District and they were in fact in the process of re-issuing these notices for the Affordable Houses in Mueller.
If you have had a homestead exemption for a full year than the value will only go up 10%- if not you should be still set on your purchase price for the house and therefore your taxes will be based on that value.
Quote: Mine were fixed last year to reflect the purchase price with the understanding that the value would continue to move up every year with the HS cap (10%).
I received my notice yesterday and the value has gone up over $105,000 which of course is more than a 10% increase.
I guess we just need to file a protest based on the fact that the value has gone up over 10% without any new improvements to the property.
Let me know if you hear anything-until then I believe we just have to protest
Either call or email Ramon. I know they are going back and revaluing, but I think it is important that they know how many people this affected. They had an agreement regarding this and by forgetting (again, for some of us) to value the properties correctly, they've not held up their end of the bargain, even if it is just for a few weeks. This means many of us are having to pay out a lot more money than we normally would for our mortgage/escrow payment. Hopefully this won't catch anyone or be problematic, but I know I'm looking at an extra $400 for the next few months before all of the kinks get worked out.
No one has told me when we will get the corrected values in the mail, and I don't know off-hand how that relates to the deadline for filing protests. Depending on how those two relate, I will file a protest even if I've been promised a change. I don't want to get stuck having someone tell me I did something wrong and have no recourse to do anything.
Lastly, I still may protest the value, depending on what they settle at. If the values generally fall in the neighborhood, and the affordable houses all rise, I think that might be grounds. Now, they could say no, but I might make the argument anyway. Incidentally, they did drop the incorrect appraisal price this year for our house.
How do we contact Ramon at People's Trust. I don't think I have his contact information anywhere. This whole thing is very confusing. I just want an explanation of how the appraisal went up $85,000 from last year! So, the taxes are almost double what they were from last year! Outrageous!
Quote: How do we contact Ramon at People's Trust. I don't think I have his contact information anywhere. This whole thing is very confusing. I just want an explanation of how the appraisal went up $85,000 from last year! So, the taxes are almost double what they were from last year! Outrageous!
Definitely drop him a line so he knows how many people this is affecting. I'm sure he'll send an email saying that it is being dealt with, but I imagine it will still help him to deal with TCAD if he knows how many of us there are.
And yes to all of that. You probably got caught in the same thing I did, or something similar. If you have filed your homestead exemption form, and you're in the affordable program, they should not be able to raise the price more than 10% from the previous year, which should be the sales price on your home. Each person's case is individual depending on when they bought the home and the like, but generally this is the case.
And, remember, you can always check your values on the TCAD website (http://www.traviscad.org/tcad_search.php?mode=situs&kind=real). This can help you see what is going on with your property and similar ones in the neighborhood. I've been told mine is corrected, but the database still shows the inflated value.
Quote: Mine were fixed last year to reflect the purchase price with the understanding that the value would continue to move up every year with the HS cap (10%).
I had the same understanding, however it seems that might need to be modified as well.
If you think about a monthly mortgage going up $70-$120 every year due to tax increases, then eventually people living in "affordable" homes may have a difficult time keeping up with those increases.
It makes more sense for TCAD to raise appraised values on affordables ONLY if the overall value (market rate) increases.
Having said that, it looks like the maket rates did go up, but are many people protesting those increases with success?
Wanted to give an update- I got my corrected value from TCAD in the mail today. They settled on the sale price from 2009, which I don't fully understand, but will certainly take. Keep an eye out, but if you haven't gotten it soon, I believe the date to file protests is June 1.
Hope everyone else is having success in this ordeal. -Ann
I live in a row house that I bought in August of 2008. My total market value decreased from 2009-2010. Is there any explanation for this other than rough economic times?
Secondly, if one has already filed a Homestead Exemption, does one have to file each year? If your market value goes down, are there any steps to take?
