From the inbox:
Sen. Rodney Ellis
Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) releases the following statement regarding Senate Bill 1084, his bill to create a fairer property tax appraisal system in Texas:
“Homeowners and local communities across Texas are shouldering an unfair burden when large commercial property owners manipulate the property tax system to drive down their property values and property tax bills,” said Senator Ellis. “While most homeowners pay taxes on the real value of their property, many large commercial property owners routinely use appeals and lawsuits to avoid paying their fair share. When large commercial property owners shirk their responsibility, ordinary homeowners pay more property taxes to make up the difference. That’s not fair, it’s bad public policy, and it needs to change.”
SB 1084 closes the loophole related to how owners of business properties worth more than $1 million present their cases in court. No longer can lawyers for these property owners game the system, “cherry-pick” properties, or make adjustments that do not follow generally accepted appraisal techniques just to drive down their appraised value. Instead, they must select a reasonable and representative sample of comparable properties located within the county and based on similarities in location, square footage, age, and other conditions.
Relief can only be granted by a court if the appraisal ratio of the property exceeds the median appraised level of the comparable properties by 10 percent.
The bill also requires the Comptroller to adopt rules that establish standards for the equal and uniform appraisal of industrial, petrochemical refining and processing, and utility properties. Lastly, the bill allows courts to award attorney’s fees to appraisal districts that establish that the property in litigation was appraised in an equal and uniform manner.
The Legislative Budget Board examined the issue in the agency’s January 2015 Texas State Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report. SB 1084 is based on LBB recommendations, as well as numerous meetings with homeowners, appraisers, counties, and cities around the state.
Photos from today’s press conference can be viewed and downloaded here. Video of the press conference can be viewed here.
As you know, this subject has been a minor obsession of mine lately; see here and here for examples. The game is rigged, with a small number of high end properties essentially dictating what their taxes are, while appraisal districts and the vast majority of homeowners are left holding the bag. I don’t know what the odds are of this bill – the Houston Business Journal reports that there are several similar bills out there, including a couple by Republican Senators, though I can’t say how any of them compare to SB1084 – but any step in the direction of fairness and equity is long overdue. Better Texas Blog has more.