PROPERTY TAX APPRAISALS GOING UP

  

Property appraisals in the county are going up an average of 10 percent this year, Washington County Chief Appraiser Willy Dilworth explained to the Appraisal District Board at their monthly meeting this (Tuesday) morning.  Dilworth said that his office is wrapping up this year’s appraisals and they are still waiting on mineral values.  He said that the total appraised property inside the city went from $1.2 Billion to $1.3 Billion.  Total property values in the county increased from last year’s $2.6 Billion to $2.97 Billion this year.

Dilworth said that he expects tax appraisal notices to go out in the mail the end of next week.  The state comptroller’s office requires that the local appraisals fall between 95 percent and 105 percent of the value the state places on the county’s property.  Dilworth said that the appraisals are based on property sale values.  While those values have been going up, he said some sales are so incredibly high that they fall outside the historical norm.  He explained that traditionally those are excluded, but the number of them in the county is increasing.  Dilworth said that his office may have to file an appeal this year if the state finds that the appraised values are too low in the county.