Blog

by Joshua Estes

September 23, 2009

New Rights for Property Owners

Earlier this year, the Texas Legislature enacted several laws affecting property taxes and the valuation appeal process, and House Bill 1030 contained one of the biggest pro-taxpayer measures.  Section 42.29 previously granted property owners the right have their attorney fees reimbursed only for appeals of board orders under Sections 42.25 (market value) or 42.26 (equity).  Unfortunately, appeals of other types of board orders were not included.  House Bill 1030 adds appeals of board orders under Sections 25.25(c) and 25.25(d) to the list of appeals for which a property owner may be reimbursed reasonable attorney fees.  While appeals under 25.25(d) may have been reimbursable because such appeals are ultimately based on the market value of the property, the right to recover attorney fees for a 25.25(c) case is completely new.

Josh Estes

  

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April 30, 2009

Replacing ad valorem taxes

Most property owners would love to see an end to property taxes in Texas, but no one can agree on what should replace it.  While waiting to testify at the House Ways & Means Committee hearing last night, I got to hear testimony on HB 508 authored by Representative Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham).  HB 508 would direct the comptroller to conduct a study examining the implementation of a transaction tax in Texas. 


What is a transaction tax? The bill defines it as a tax that:(1) taxes every transaction that occurs in this state; and (2) is electronically collected by financial institutions using banking data systems that are used in other economies for that purpose."

Witnesses testifying in support of the bill went on to describe it as a tax that would take a percentage of every single electronic financial transaction affecting Texas accounts.  These could include debit card transactions, check payments, payroll direct deposits, brokerage account transactions, and many more. If you want to hear for yourself, view the video here and skip ahead to the 1:48:00 mark. (it is 4/29/09 - 7:05 p.m. to 10:53 p.m.).

Josh Estes

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April 28, 2009

2009 Outlook for Dallas County appraised values

Some major appraisal districts across the state have already sent notices of appraised value, but we have not yet seen any from Dallas.  Last week, Ken Nolan, Chief Appraiser of Dallas Central Appraisal District, participated in a panel discussion at the State Bar of Texas Property Tax Section Annual Meeting in Austin. While most of the conversation dealt with other issues facing appraisal districts, Mr. Nolan did address, in very general terms, the values we will see on notices of appraised value coming out this week.  


On the residential side, he stated that southern Dallas County has been hardest hit by foreclosures, and noticed values in that sector will be down.  In North Dallas, values will remain flat, but values will actually go up slightly in northwest Dallas County.  The appraisal district has much available data for residential properties, and he noted that these changes are supported by the data from these zones. 

For commercial property, he anticipates a one-to-two percent increase, but he stressed that commercial property has the biggest potential for heavy decreases as a result of protests.  A recent sale for an amount lower than the 2008 appraised value indicates that the market value of office buildings has gone down, and lower values may also result from the financial documentation that property owners will provide to support their requests for lower values.  For commercial property owners, this year's protest will be critical because the lack of information available to the appraisal district will mean potential savings are greater than ever.

         As always, please do not hesitate to call or email me with questions or comments.

Josh Estes

Posted at 11:31 AM in by Joshua Estes, Current Affairs, Political Landscape, Property Tax Relief | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 08, 2009

Battle brewing over wind energy windfall.

The good news:  Texas is the leading producer of wind energy in the United States, and the current boom in green energy has created explosive growth of wind farms in Texas.  This growth has been profitable landowners and producers, and now taxing entities have begun to see increased tax bases as a result.  

The bad news:  For many school districts experiencing heavy capital investments in wind energy, the additional tax money would be sent to the state under the Robin Hood plan.  Rather than seeing the money sent away, many districts are entering into abatement agreements with the producers and then immediately agreeing to Payment in Lieu of Tax (PILOT) agreements.  The cumulative effect?  So far 44 school districts have granted $700 million in abatements and will receive back $248 million over the next ten years.  

Is this a good thing?  That probably depends on your perspective.  You can read the full Associated Press article by Danny Robbins here.


Josh Estes

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November 13, 2008

Major Change for the Appraisal Review Board

Among other proposals, the House Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform will recommend changes that make the Appraisal Review Board more independent from the appraisal district.  During the meetings held across the state this summer, the Committee recognized the biggest complaint to be the lack of independence of the Appraisal Review Board.  Quite simply, many taxpayers testified the Appraisal Review Board hearing is a kangaroo court that does not give proper consideration to protests.  One proposed change will be to remove the hearings from the same building as the appraisal district and make the Appraisal Review Board a distinct governmental entity whose administration is totally separate from the appraisal district.  Legislators would like to create a positive impression of the Appraisal Review Board because they believe property owners will file fewer appeals if those owners feel like the board gave fair consideration to the protest, regardless of the actual outcome.  Fewer appeals would make appraisal districts very happy as well.

Josh Estes

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November 05, 2008

Speaker's Race Turmoil May Alter Property Tax Agenda

Current Speaker of the Texas House Tom Craddick has been a vigorous proponent of structural changes to the property tax system. Under his leadership, hearings were held during the summer to formulate legislative changes. Last night's election returns, however, may have had a significant effect on the property tax agenda for next spring. As of this writing, Republicans hold a slim 76-74 majority in the Texas House, with some races closely decided and subject to recount. Speaker Craddick was unpopular with some members of his own party before the election, however, he did have some support on the Democratic side of the aisle. The first order of business for the House when it convenes on January 13, 2009 will be the election of a Speaker. If a new Speaker is elected, property tax reform could take a backseat to other matters, and numerous candidates for the position of Speaker are coming forward.

John Brusniak, Jr. and
Joshua Estes

Posted at 03:28 PM in by John Brusniak, Jr., by Joshua Estes, Political Landscape | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 23, 2008

Major Changes Recommended for 2009 Legislative Session

Several weeks remain before the release of the report prepared by the House Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform, but the early word is that it will recommend big changes to the current appraisal appeal system. After numerous meetings around the state, Chairman John Otto (R-Dayton) has identified one of the biggest perceived problems as lack of independence of the Appraisal Review Board. As one of several recommendations to address this, he (and the committee) will recommend the creation of a pilot program in which a board made up of MAI appraisers will hear protests of commercial property valuations over $1,000,000 from Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Travis, and Tarrant counties.  I asked Representative Otto whether this would replace the right to file an appeal for judicial review, and he confirmed for me that the order of this review board would be appealable using the same remedies currently available to appeal any Appraisal Review Board order. More to come...

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October 17, 2008

Can you retroactively lose your Freeport Exemption?

APPRAISAL DISTRICT ATTEMPTING TO RETROACTIVELY REMOVE FREEPORT EXEMPTIONS USING 25.25(c)(1)

Taxing entities are always on the lookout for new funding sources, and a North Texas appraisal district has found one: using 25.25(c)(1) to retroactively remove freeport exemptions granted in the five previous years.  There has been plenty of litigation regarding clerical errors, but I do not believe it necessary to resort to courts' opinions because this action clearly falls outside the remedies allowed in the tax code.  Section 1.04(18) says that a mistake in judgment in the making of a determination cannot be included in the definition of clerical error, and the granting of an exemption is clearly a judgment call.  If an appraisal district is ultimately successful in this attempt to remove exemptions, it could result in enormous retroactive tax liabilities. 

As always, please feel free to contact me to discuss this or any other property tax issue.

Joshua Estes

Posted at 09:48 AM in by Joshua Estes, Exemptions | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)