WASHINGTON CO. APPRAISAL DISTRICT APPEALING ‘INVALID’ APPRAISED VALUES IN BRENHAM ISD

  

The Washington County Appraisal District is appealing the state’s findings from a property value study that deemed Brenham ISD’s appraised values were too low.

Per a release from the appraisal district office, the Texas Comptroller released preliminary property value study results on January 31^st.  The results showed that the 2022 appraised values in Brenham ISD were 91.8 percent, 8.2 percent below the state’s values. 

The value is deemed “invalid” for the year if the difference between the local value assessed by the appraisal district and the state values determined by the Comptroller is greater than 5 percent.

Chief Appraiser Dyann White said this is the second year in a row where Brenham ISD is below the state’s appraised values by more than the acceptable margin.  She said the invalid score was “unexpected”, as the appraisal district raised values “tremendously” in 2022.  She said last year’s increase in values was “by far the largest I’ve experienced in over 20 years.”

Burton ISD residential values were also found to be low according to the state, but the increase in oil and gas values pushed the overall score up to 96.7 percent. 

Texas property tax law requires property tax appraisals to reflect true market value.  If an appraisal district appraises below market value, then the state can fund the school using values as determined by the Comptroller instead of the locally appraised values, causing the school district to lose money from the state.

White said the appraisal district chose to appeal Brenham ISD’s values after reviewing the state’s study “very closely.”  She said more information will be released as the appeal process moves along. 

The Comptroller’s property value study findings can be seen here.

During the appraisal district board of directors meeting on Tuesday, the board approved proceeding with the appeal process.  The Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott law firm will assist in the appeal.  It will be funded from the appraisal district’s litigation fund in the amount of $7,500, but there could be additional cost if the appeal must go to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

Board members also approved a budget amendment to reallocate unused funds from 2021-2022 for specific uses.  They include adding an additional appraisal clerk position, digitizing old permanent records, purchasing sales data, and smaller miscellaneous uses like adding to the district’s vehicle and computer funds.

The board also went over the proposed appraisal district budget for 2023-24.  The budget is projected at $1,632,220, an increase of $109,220 from the previous adopted budget.  White said the increase is due to the added position, budgeting for potential raises, and adding contracts for the sales reports and digital library for permanent records.