Tax rate shrinks while appraisals drive taxes up

Tax rate shrinks while appraisals drive taxes up

Written by Christi Covington Friday, 07 September 2007

Round Rock and Pflugerville must host public hearings this summer on proposals to increase the total tax revenue. However, both cities plan to decrease the current tax rate.

“It is kind of confusing,” Pflugerville Finance Director Lauri Gilliam said. “It’s the ‘Truth in Taxation’ that is not exactly true.”

State law under the Truth in Taxation code requires cities or other taxing entities to advertise to the public if they are collecting more tax money for the budget than they did last year because the proposed tax rate is more than the effective rate.

Travis County, with a formula given by the state comptroller’s office, calculates Pflugerville’s individual effective tax rate, which sets a benchmark. In Round Rock, the school district performs this service. If the city uses that effective rate, it should provide the budget with around the same provision as the previous year’s budget.

The effective rate is calculated by taking all the property on the tax role that was in existence last year minus new construction and annexations.

Many cities choose to gather more taxes than the benchmark because voters or council members ask for the funds for projects or increased services, Round Rock Finance Director Cindy Demers said.

Right now, the increased sales tax revenue in the general fund budget will add more than 30 positions for fire and police during the next fiscal year, which starts in October. The higher than effective tax rate will pay for debt on bond issuances.

Both cities plan to lower their tax rates — Pflugerville by 0.005 cents per $100 and Round Rock by 0.005830 cents. Yet many residents will pay more in taxes overall because of increased property value.

Pflugerville’s next public hearing is Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. during the city council meeting and will be voted on by the council Sept. 25. Round Rock’s next hearing is Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. during the city council meeting and will be voted on by the council Sept. 27.

The housing market’s influence

While the cities of Round Rock and Pflugerville may both be lowering tax rates, many homeowners protest that their property tax bill continues to rise. That is because many home values increase, Round Rock Finance Director Cindy Demers said. High property taxes are not always about the rate. Sometimes the bill is based largely on the drive of the housing market.

Pflugerville
Fiscal Year	Taxable property value	Property tax rate	Average residence appraised value	*Average city property tax bill	City’s total operating budget
2008**	$1,892,441,147	.6190%	$164,904	$1,020	$57,646,129
2007	$1,527,688,358	.6240%	$158,422	$988	$47,442,115
2006	$1,408,716,503	.6350%	$155,391	$986	$73,225,143
2005	$1,310,450,828	.6400%	$150,056	$960	$45,550,268
2004	$1,201,345,481	.6417%	$147,070	$943	$52,580,322
Round Rock
Fiscal Year	Taxable property value	Property tax rate	Average residence appraised value	*Average city property tax bill	City’s total operating budget
2008**	$7,417,279,787	.36522%	$176,214	$643	$130,741,441
2007	$6,356,956,240	.37105%	$161,277	$598	$119,155,568
2006	$5,667,029,945	.37105%	$154,265	$572	$107,660,066
2005	$5,251,484,692	.37972%	$151,448	$575	$97,607,692
2004	$5,071,176,374	.357152%	$150,425	$558	$90,105,281

*Only relates to city property taxes; does not include any other taxing authority.

**Proposed tax rate.

Appraising Property

How homes are appraised

• Cities tax homeowners according to the home’s value, which is declared by the county’s appraisal district.
• Completed by Jan. 1 of each year. Homes are appraised according to market value, which is what they would be worth if the owner was selling.
• Market value is determined by the appraisal staff, who gathers sales numbers, talks to realtors and individuals, collects questionnaires and finds any other market information.
• Many homes are assessed individually, while other homes with similar floor plans in block neighborhoods are appraised together.
• In Williamson County, around 28,000-30,000 protest their appraisals each year.

How to protest

• Protests must take place within 30 days of the homeowner being sent the Notice of Appraised Value. Either appear in person or send a written protest.
• Bring information such as
• settlement statements
• closing papers
• sale or purchase contracts
• comparable sales of like properties
• appraisals
• engineer’s reports
• income and expense statements
• agricultural history documentation
• wildlife management plan
• photographs of property
• recorded warranty deed documentation and survey plats
• A hearing will be scheduled with the appraisal review board.

For more information and details, contact the appropriate appraisal district.

Round Rock

Williamson Central Appraisal District, 625 FM 1460, Georgetown, Texas 78626, 512-930-0391, www.wcad.org

Pflugerville

Travis Central Appraisal District, 8314 Cross Park Drive, Austin, Texas 78754, 512-834-9317, www.traviscad.org