Sugar Land - Missouri City Edition | July 2022

REAL ESTATE BRIEFS Missouri City City Council increases tax exemption

2022 REAL ESTATE EDITION

Greater Houston home values trend upward

BY HUNTER MARROW

average homeowner about $40 on their property tax bill, according to city documents. That exemption would apply to nearly 17,000 homesteads. With the approval, the ordinance increases the exemption for residents age 65 and older from $15,000 to $25,000. That is an additional loss of property tax revenue of $382,833 for the city at an annual savings of $144.51 for residents age 65 and older, according to agenda documents. “Regardless of whether that amount is one penny or whether that amount is $100,000, any tax relief for our citizens is something I believe is extremely warranted, and if we’re able to do it based on all the scenarios I know I’ve looked at—we have a healthy fund balance, our sales taxes are increasing, and we’re really going to be in a good place over the next several years per the forecast—today is a good day to slow walk ourselves into this...” Mayor Pro Tem Jerey Boney said during the meeting.

What is a residence homestead? A residence homestead can be a separate structure, condominium or manufactured home on owned or leased land as long as the individual living in the home owns it. A residence homestead can include up to 20 acres, if the land is owned by the homeowner and used for a purpose related to residential use. Who is aected? The approved ordinance aects the property taxes of three groups in Missouri City.

The Missouri City City Council approved an ordinance that adds an additional $10,000 in property tax exemptions to Missouri City residents age 65 and older, an additional $10,000 for residents with disabilities and a 2.5% homestead exemption for all residents. City Council approved the ordi- nance through a 6-0 vote during its June 21 meeting, and the action comes after the council voted to approve the rst reading during its June 6 meeting. Mayor Robin Elackatt was not in attendance. The timing of the vote comes as homestead exemptions, which remove part of a home’s value from taxation, are allowed under the Texas tax code but must be adopted before July 1. Using an average home value of $269,128, a 2.5% homestead exemp- tion would reduce Missouri City’s property tax revenue by approxi- mately $680,000 while saving the

BY GEORGE WIEBE

The Greater Houston area’s median single-family home value has risen 16% since last May and is the highest on record at $351,000, despite more listings and fewer sales compared to the same time in 2021, per the Houston Associa- tion of Realtors’ June report. The total active listings rose nearly 15% year over year from 21,151 property listings in May 2021 to 24,301in May 2022. Rising interest rates are cited as a large cause of declining property sales with the average 30-year xed rate mortgage up to 6.06%, according to the HAR. “New listings increased 9% in May, helping boost inventory to its highest level of the year, so hopefully we can begin to see signs of normalcy in terms of supply, demand and pricing in the months ahead,” HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob said. The total months of inventory for single-family homes—a rate indicating the estimated amount of time it would take before the supply of homes in Houston is depleted—was at 1.6 months, the highest supply so far in 2022, according to the HAR. In Fort Bend County, inventory remains lower, according to data from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, at 0.9 months as of April.

Residents age 65 and older Residents with disabilities Missouri City homeowners

SOURCES: CITY OF MISSOURI CITY, TEXAS COMPTROLLERCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Sugar Land approves rst reading of homestead exemption increase

History of exemptions

BY LAURA ROBB

which reduces taxable value by taking a percent- age o the assessed value. This ultimately reduces the tax burden for residents.” City ocials said the exemption will account for $400,000 in citywide resident savings—or $15 per year on a home valued at $420,000—based on the current tax rate of $0.3465.

values,” according to a city news release. “Based on the 2022 preliminary tax roll, prop- erty values in our city are increasing at a rate not seen before,” Sugar Land City Manager Michael Goodrum said in a release. “One way we can address residential value growth is through the homestead exemption,

At its June 21 meeting, Sugar Land City Council voted unanimously to approve increasing the city’s homestead exemp- tion by 1%. The tax cut sits at 12% and will be increased to 13%, going into eect for the 2022 tax year. It will lower tax bills and “address increases in property

For years, Sugar Land has been increasing homestead exemptions for residents. Homestead exemptions in:

2007 1%

2021 12%

2022 13%

SOURCE: CITY OF SUGAR LAND COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • JULY 2022