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.

Brenham ISD's preliminary value study results from
the Texas Comptroller.
(courtesy Washington Co. Appraisal District)

Per a release from the appraisal district office, the Texas Comptroller released preliminary property value study results on January 31st.  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. 

Burton ISD's preliminary value study results from
the Comptroller's Office.
(courtesy Washington Co. Appraisal District)

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.

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5 Comments

  1. When you purchase a home The tax office basis your appraised value off of your closing statement ( H U D Statement) But that is not a true value because in that statement is usually 6 % realtors Comision and closing cost. also when I installed a pool The tax office raised my value of my home by the amount that my pool cost to install But ask any real estate agent and the will tell you that you only get about 10 to 20 % of your pool cost if you sell your home. the current way of doing things at the tax office is Rasing the value of your home by the amount that the improvement cost to build So those things really need to be looked into and adjusted, as you only get a percentage of that cost back if you sell Its not fair in the current way they do things.

  2. Property values should not be based on a deed of trust sale or a sale of a property financed by a mortgage company or a bank.
    This is not fair market value.
    For these methods are only promises to pay.
    They are not a general warranty deed paid for with cash !
    They are deeds of trust of someone promising to pay this amount of money$ and have it paid off sometime in the future usually long-term future like 20 years from now.
    How can you say that this is fair market value by someone who is not going to pay off the property for 20 years ???
    It is not fair to the rest of us whose property is paid off.
    Our tax rates are too high.
    Every penny this ranch makes on farming and raising animals goes to consolidated taxes of Washington County or the Burton School district for them to build very expensive football stadiums upgrades salaries, pensions, retirement, medical, dental, things not all of us taxpayers can afford for ourselves.
    It seems to be the only way to make a living and make ends meet is to get a job with the government.
    Instead of this farm buying a much-needed tractor upgrade from the 1962 tractor we have we must spend $50,000 to buy even a good one.
    Instead of going to the tractor dealership and making a down payment and carrying a note we are unable to do so because all of our money goes to the tax office.
    People struggling with inflation that live in the cities are unable to make ends meet yet people that work for the government are doing just fine.
    They are public servants they are to serve us we are not serve them we are not there indentured servants.
    Everyone people that work for the government A N D people in the private sector should be able to afford health insurance pay their taxes to keep up their police department fire departments and city and county infrastructure and have some money left over to plant seeds for the next year.
    The system is broken because of lack of discipline by the government to live within a reasonable budget, and not purchase brand new everything that they see or think they want.
    By only what you need.
    We want a football state championship on a grass field.
    We went to the playoffs without a 3 million baseball field.
    Other countries in societies are doing well teaching their kids trades in school something they can make with their hands and produce a product something other than just paper.
    Food production, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical, dental, vision, special legalization, fire training, police protection, economics these are all necessities and not to forget compassion, faith, hope and charity.
    These are the subjects we should focus on in school.
    Not waste our time and money on a type of political agenda, or too many social distractions.
    Our own president two years ago said”I’ll bet most of you can’t even explain what made America great”
    I say, ” oh yes we can ! ” I’m old enough to remember the history of world war II in great detail and how dark the rest of the world was when it came to food production, medical, dental, and vision, and human rights.
    America has always been first and foremost in all of these areas.
    I refuse to be shamed by ignorant politicians.
    Uneducated politicians that think everything can be fixed by raising everyone’s taxes and taking everyone’s money from the general population are either number one crooked, or number two ignorant in the power of a free economic society.
    Just my opinion.

    1. Taxation without representation. Profits over people. High School graduates that can’t make change from a cash sales without the computer. Politicians and corruption, a Department of Defense worried about proper pronouns rather than training. Drug cartels running the border with drugs and human trafficking. The good people are getting scammed and it needs to stop and the UNI party politicians will only fleece you of your money and make lots of promises but never much action. When you find yourself at the end of a rope tie a knot and hang on cause Jesus is coming according to scripture.

  3. This is the second article on this same subject in the last six days. Thanks to KWHI for recognizing the importance of this information which directly effects the finances of every citizen in the county. Sadly, there was only one comment from the public on the article of February 25. This news organization knows the importance of this information and was hoping citizens were paying attention.
    Perhaps a different headline such as. “ the state says our county property tax is far too low” may have received more attention. Especially when we consider the published reactions each year when tax notices go out.
    Thanks again to KWHI for serving the needs of the citizens.

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