Bay Area Edition | July 2023

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GROWINGPROBLEM Despite Galveston County lowering its tax rate every year since at least 2012, property appraisals are increasing faster, resulting in homeowners paying an average of $141.27 more in taxes to the county in 2022 than in 2012. That is a 19.64% increase in just over a decade.

Keeth’s business property has increased in appraised value from $440,000 in 2021 to $1.08 million by 2023, he said. Keeth had to spend sig- nicant time ghting to get his 2023 appraisal to $1.08 million; originally, it was $1.49 million, he said. Ultimately, the consumers end up footing the bill for the huge increases as Keeth ups rents and renters up their prices to balance their books. “No matter what, at the end of the day, every tax that is levied, it always originates from the consumer,” he said. Still, the increases are severe enough that Keeth fears losing having to sell his home and move to a rental to aord his commercial properties, he said. “It’s devastating. It really is,” Keeth said. Reform eorts The House and the Senate could not agree on which legislation to pass, so Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special session to get the chambers to come up with a plan that includes reducing the school district tax rate. The rst session ran May 29-June 27 with no decision, but on July 10, during the second special session, legislators announced a compromise plan that includes two bills and one constitutional amendment total- ing $18 billion. Abbott signed the bill July 22. Under the new plan, school district tax rates would be compressed by 10.7 cents, which is slightly higher than the Senate’s original plan and much lower than the 16.2-cent reduction the House originally proposed. However, the homestead exemption on school district taxes would increase from $40,000 to $100,000, as the Senate “The increases have been increasing steadily over the years, even though we haven’t made any improve- ments to the property.” THERESA ELLIOTT, GALVESTON ISLAND RESIDENT WHOSE APPRAISED PROPERTY VALUE HAS INCREASED FROM LESS THAN $200,000 IN 1999 TO OVER $675,000 IN 2023 “It’s devastating. It really is.” JON KEETH, LEAGUE CITY RESIDENT WHOSE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY ROSE FROM $440,000 TO $1.08 MILLION IN TWO YEARS

Average taxable home value

Tax bill

Tax rate

. .

$250,000

. .

$200,000

. .

$150,000

. .

$100,000

. .

$50,000

NOTE: 2023 FIGURES ARE PRELIMINARY.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

SOURCE: GALVESTON COUNTY TAX ASSESSORCOLLECTORCOMMUNITY IMPACT

RECORD INCREASES

HCAD Communications Administrator John Labus told Community Impact . In a video released earlier this year about the state of the local real estate market, Altinger said what led to this year’s “crazy-hot market” was a combination of a large inux of pop- ulation; limited housing supply; and, most of all, changing interest rates. “Chief appraisers, myself included, must follow the market, up or down, wherever supply and demand drives it,” he said. “Values we publish must reect what buyers and sellers are doing in the marketplace.” Elliott, like others, said she believes the problem is partly caused by articial ination. People moving to Texas from other states, such as California, are able to pay far above asking price for homes, which causes surrounding property values to increase, she said. Anyone who wants to protest their property appraisal has the opportu- nity to, but it can be a long and con- fusing process, especially for senior citizens or those who aren’t tech savvy, Elliott said. The problem is aecting local busi- ness owners as well. League City resident Jon Keeth owns a majority of Walding Station, a shopping center with businesses that include Main St. Bistro.

2023 was a record year in terms of the percentage of Harris and Galveston county residential properties that increased in value from the year before.

Increase in value

Decrease in value

No change

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SOURCES: HARRIS CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT, GALVESTON CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Senate both took cracks at passing property appraisal relief legislation during this year’s 88th Legislature and two special sessions. As of press time, both chambers had come to a compromise between both their orig- inal plans, said Cheryl Johnson, Gal- veston County tax-assessor collector. Johnson was tapped in June to be a member of the House’s newly formed Select Study Committee on Sustain- able Property Tax Relief working on legislative recommendations for

sustainable property appraisal relief. “I believe the people in Texas are getting priced out of their homes, … and we’ve got to do something about

it,” she said. Local impact

In Harris County, Roland Altinger, chief appraiser for the Harris County Appraisal District, called 2023’s appraisal increases “unbelievable.” “We have seen two years of absolutely unprecedented increases in values,”

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