April 29, 2020 501 PM
PRESIDIO COUNTY — The State Comptroller Property Value Study continues to be a problem for the Presidio County Appraisal District and the citizens of Marfa. Results of the 2019 value study were recently released showing that Marfa ISD failed the study again. This issue continues to be a contentious one, with local taxpayers continuing to express outrage at the high values, while local sales indicate that the appraisal district is still not up to the required values of law. State law requires the standard of “market value,” and each school district in Texas must appraise within five percent of that calculated number or the local school loses state funding. Because Marfa is considered a “rich district” due to high home values, Marfa actually pays recapture amounts back to the Texas Education Agency.
Richard Petree, a consultant hired by the board to try to fix the problems of the district five years ago, is proposing a very large increase for 2020 to meet the market value standard. The average home value is increasing 58 percent, and small tracts of land and town lots are increasing almost 50 percent due to the sales data that was discovered by the state. The only positive part of this news is that homesteads in Marfa are protected from any increase greater than 10 percent, so those taxes will only rise that amount. Over 65 homesteads are “capped” for school taxes, protecting them from any increase.
Of the $83 million increase, almost $43 million is protected from taxation by the cap on homesteads. Three-hundred-seventeen homesteads are also protected from any increase because of the freeze on school taxes for the disabled and elderly.
Petree stated, “I know this is going to be really difficult, especially considering that the virus issue may negatively impact values going forward, but we are required to use the assessment date of January 1 as the value date. The disaster provision in the tax code does not allow us to consider how this epidemic will impact value in Marfa according to Attorney General Paxton.”
Presidio ISD will also see an increase in value due to reclassification on most homes and on land values.
Taxpayers who have evidence that their values are not at the level estimated are asked to submit that evidence by email. An employee of the district will call each person who protests to share information about the property. If an agreement on value can be reached, no further action will be necessary. If an agreement is not reached, then the appraisal review board will hear the case later in the spring or early summer. It has not been determined at this point whether or not those meetings will be held in person or remotely.
