East Central Texas News

Texas property owners are concerned about the state of their property taxes, as Van Zandt County chief appraiser Scott Hyde explained in an open letter published in the Athens Review.

Hyde asked the governor’s office to suspend 2020 property reappraisals because the values are not as high as they were on Jan. 1. If the properties are reappraised, they will be set to a price much higher than what most property owners can afford.

"According to the Comptrollers Property Tax Assistance Division’s 2019 Property Value Study, the values in Henderson County are 8% to 15% too low depending on the location of the property," Hyde wrote. "The Texas Property Tax Code requires all property tax appraisals to be as of Jan. 1 and the chief appraiser has no discretion regarding this directive. As of this writing, with the exception of applicable exemptions, most 2020 property taxable values will increase  in Henderson County."

This poses a serious situation for those who are already economically drained due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyde fears this could lead to increased protests in a time when most people should be staying home.

The reappraisals also affect the properties of the local school systems. School districts are already trying to readjust to remote teaching strategies, provide meals to students in need, and create new budgets based on recent developments in federal funding. The state would have to take on the extra burden that a property tax reappraisal would impose on the school budgets. However, this was not taken into account for the state’s budget during the Spring 2019 legislative session.

“I will be doing everything I possibly can to make Van Zandt County property owner's right to protest as accessible as possible, as well as exercising every discretionary power I have (which are few) to lessen the impact of our property reappraisals," Hyde wrote. "I am delaying sending our 2020 Appraisal Notices until May 1 to give the governor additional time to act. But unless his office quickly takes action on this issue, this will be one more health and financial challenge the citizens of the Texas will be saddled with for 2020."