If you feel your 2009 Fort Bend Central Appraisal District assessment is inflated, you are probably not alone. Our 2009 preliminary assessment happens to be $81,000 more than what we paid for our home last July. Am I to believe that our home has risen in value more than $80,000 despite the economic slowdown? Not a chance! I guess the appraisers at Fort Bend Central Appraisal are working with a different system, one that has little to do with reality or recent market trends. Someone must have neglected to tell the Chief Appraiser, Mr. Glen Whitehead, that sales in my neighborhood declined by 67% during the first quarter of 2009, and prices actually declined by roughly 3 percent.
The website at Fort Bend CAD recently stated that homeowners were not eligible to protest before the May 1st preliminary values. Now that the preliminary values are on-line for everyone to see, the appraisal district will no doubt be flooded with protest submissions because of over-assessments.
Appraisal districts across the state have been pushing assessments upward to offset lost tax revenue. The advertised savings of school tax reform passed by our legislature several years ago are now a distant memory. According to the new preliminary 2009 assessments, it appears the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District has not been immune to the pressure to generate more revenue.
The fact remains, however, that many of these new preliminary assessments will simply not hold water. If you feel your assessment is out of touch with reality, file your protest and support your case with appropriate documentation. Don't forget that this is also a public process. The assessment process is subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act. Your chief appraiser and/or the appraisal review board have to support their case with appropriate documentation, and they can't hide behind a veil of anonymity. You can view the Texas ARB Manual by downloading it here..Download Appraisal Review Board Manual
If you are not satisfied with the ARB's final value you also have the option of filing an appeal in state district court or appealing with binding arbitration. Under the binding arbitration option, the aappraisal district must pay for the arbitrator's fee if the arbitrator rules in your favor. 10 percent, or $50 of your $500 deposit goes to the Comptroller and the rest is refunded. Download details here...Download Texas Property Taxpayers' Remedies
It's a bit ironic that the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District's own disclaimer (bottom of the home page, www.fbcad.org) reads as follows...
"The information included on these pages has been compiled by county staff from a variety of sources, and is subject to change without notice. The Central Appraisal District makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding the quality, content, completeness, accuracy or adequacy of such information and data."
No Kidding! I could show you a number of homes in our area where the appraisal district is taxing the garages as improved square footage and thereby inflating the actual size of the homes. By contrast, there is another homeowner in our area who has a nearly 6000 square foot luxury residence which is being taxed on less than 4000 square feet. This type of erroneous data, along with arbitrary unequal appraisal assessments, will probably keep Fort Bend Central Appraisal very busy with protest hearings through the summer.
Unchecked appraisal creep throughout the state could also spur more interest in legislation to finally implement a new lower cap. Most homeowners are already under pressure to trim their budgets, and rising property tax bills are going to push some voters over the edge. As local governments try to get more from less, the issue of appraisal creep could finally get the full attention of the Texas Legislature. Preliminary 2009 values from Fort Bend CAD suggest we will see that legislation sooner rather than later.
Don't forget to file your protest before the June 1st deadline!
