Government
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
Q&A: Sherry Hunter, Montgomery County chief appraiser, discusses property taxes Sherry Hunter, chief appraiser with Montgomery Central Appraisal District, sat down for an interview with Community Impact on April 10 to talk about her role and what challenges are being faced by the appraisal district as the property value protest process has been underway since April 1. What were the big changes you made upon becoming chief appraiser? For tax year 2025, our budget is now for 107 employees, but it is because for a long time we were limited as far as our appraisal staff as well as technol- ogy. But the county has grown substantially. It’s a lit- tle daunting to do this, but ... with the new software that we have, they do have a mobile application.
What are some of the big misconceptions that you see year over year when it comes to property taxes? That we are politically motivated when we are actually a neutral party. We are tasked with having an accurate listing of all properties within the boundaries of the county and valuing them at 100% of market value each year as of Jan. 1. To do this, we utilize prior year sales information. Why can residents see a year-to-year increase in their appraisal value, even if local taxing entities do not raise their tax rate? Our values are set first, and so we have to value as of Jan. 1. Because we have to value as of Jan. 1, we’re looking at all of the prior year sales. So for tax year 2025 or appraisal year 2025, we’re looking at all the sales that took place in 2024 in order to deter- mine what a property owner could actually sell their home for as of Jan. 1. So that can change every year, and it’s just depending on what the market is saying there. ... So there are times when we have an increase in the market, but then there are times when we have a decrease in the market.
COURTESY SHERRY HUNTER/MONTGOMERY CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com .
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