Today's Austin American-Statesman (dated 4/24/2008) stated that Appraisals for 2008 will rise. Worse yet, 5 school districts will see double-digit increases. Ouch! Amongst the 5 Travis County School District who will find increases in their property valuations are:
Eanes Independent Schools - rise up to 15.52%
Round Rock - rise up to 12.47%
Austin - rise up to 12.22%
Lago Vista - rise up to 12.14% and
Lake Travis 10.90%
The paper mentions that depending on the valuations of each school district which determines how much the taxes should increase doesn't mean that there will be an increase in property tax. Other taxing authorities include cities and counties and these tax rates will not be set until fall.
I want to point out that if you currently have a Homestead exemption on your home, state law caps the rate at which most home can increase in taxable value, which is no more than 10% annually. If you haven't turned in your Homestead exemption form yet, April 30th is the deadline.
The new tax appraisals will surely be controversial because your home's market value surely did not increase 10.90% in the past year, if you live within the Lake Travis School District. If anything, probably lower. Unfortunately, the appraisal district determines the property values based on the previous year. If the real estate market has started to cool in 2008, the paper mentions that the appraised values will stabilize or cool down in 2009.
Here is the complete story from the Austin Statesman.
