The change could give homeowners relief from protesting property values every year, but might cause problems for school districts and other taxing entities.
A newly elected board member Bexar County Appraisal District wants the county to consider appraising residential property values every two years instead of every year — a change that could have wide-ranging implications not only for homeowners, but for the budgets of school districts and other government entities.
In Texas, which has no state income tax, property tax revenue pays for many government services, including schools, roads, police, fire and EMS services. Property values are used to calculate property tax bills by cities, counties, school districts and other government entities that set local tax rates. Those property valuations are traditionally updated each year by county appraisal districts. But a request from board member Robert Bruce — who along with fellow members Erika Hizel and Naomi Miller was elected to the board as part of a recent change to state law — asks the Bexar County Appraisal District to consider a shift to performing the appraisals every other year. MORE COVERAGE: Median home price in Texas jumped nearly 40% between 2019 and 2023, report finds If approved, the change would keep appraisal valuations unchanged for two years, but experts say that won't necessarily shield property from seeing annual increases in their property tax bill. Bruce said switching to a every-other-year appraisals would offer some relief to homeowners, who spend time and money each year to protest their appraisals if they believe them to be too high. However, staff members for the Bexar County Appraisal District said they are opposed to the proposal, and several board members said they were concerned with a lack of analysis showing how the changes could affect all taxpayers and taxing entities. Appraisal district staffers said they haven't performed an analysis for how appraising homes every other year would affect property valuations. As an example, they said that if the county adopted a three-year appraisal cycle, the average value for a home in 2024 would have shot up about 35% since the last valuation, even though the housing market has cooled this year. “I don’t know if every other year is the answer,” said Albert Uresti, Bexar County's tax assessor-collector. “What I do know is that we have to develop a method here or at the legislature that protects the citizens from having to come back.” Under Texas law, the taxable value of a home can't rise more than 10% per year. But the market values — the amount the appraisal district believes homeowners could get if they sold their property — often rise more than 10%. In 2022, for example, the market value of an average Bexar County home with a homestead exemption increased by 22.9%, according to the appraisal district. As a result, the taxable value of homes will continue to rise the maximum 10% each year until reaching the market value. That 10% increase in taxable value would happen for many property owners even during a year without new property appraisals, said Brent South, legislative director for the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts and chief appraiser for Hunt County. Freezing market values solely for residential properties also raises equity concerns, South said, because doing so could lead to increased tax burdens for owners of commercial properties. 'That's where you get into that equity issue,' South said. 'In the state of Texas, we're supposed to appraise at market value, and all properties are supposed to be appraised equally and uniformly, so that no individual property owner bears more than their fair share of the property tax burden.' MORE COVERAGE: The most expensive ZIP codes for San Antonio homebuyers and sellers Potential budget impacts Bruce's proposal follows the lead of the Tarrant County Appraisal District, which recently switched to performing residential appraisals every two years. Tarrant County, which is home to Fort Worth, is one of the most-populated counties in the state, with more than 2 million residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The move sparked protests from officials at Tarrant County school districts, who said it could create problems for their districts' budgets. School officials in the San Antonio area are expressing similar concerns. North East Independent School District, the second-largest school district in San Antonio with about 60,000 students, estimates it could lose $16 million — nearly 3% of its annual budget — if appraisals are moved to every other year, said Dan Villarreal, North East ISD's chief financial officer. That shortfall could happen because of the state's funding formula for school districts. If the state believes Bexar County's property values are higher than what the appraisal district determined, school districts could get fewer state dollars because the state believes local property taxes should cover more of school budgets. The Texas Comptrollers Office examines Bexar County's property appraisals every other year. If local and state estimates differ by more than 5%, the state will continue to annually monitor the county's appraisals until they come into alignment. Like many other urban school districts in Texas, North East ISD is already grappling with budget shortfalls. The district is currently facing a $39 million deficit. Aubrey Chancellor, executive director of communications for the school district, said additional funding losses could force the district to reduce its use of electricity or cut back on meals for professional development or in-house training events. 'It would hurt,' Villarreal said. Potential impact on protest process In proposing the switch to doing appraisals every other year, Bruce said making the change would keep allow homeowners who feel their property values are inaccurate — and as a result, their property tax bill is higher than it should be — to avoid going through the protest process every year. Homeowners in Bexar County are increasingly filing protests seeking to lower their appraised values. Bexar County saw 154,792 homeowners file protests in 2022, 173,484 protests in 2023 and 156,717 this year, according to the appraisal district. Many homeowners pay an outside firm to represent them in the process. There can also be long wait times — sometimes as much as 45 minutes — to reach staffers who handle appraisal disputes, said Stephanie Gonzales, director of public information for the tax assessor-collector. The protest process begins with an informal meeting with an appraisal district representative, in which a property owner can present their case for reducing the appraised value of their property. If they reach an agreement with the district’s representative, no formal protest hearing will occur. If an agreement can’t be reached, property owners can request a formal hearing before an appraisal district review board. In Bexar County, about 90% of homeowners reach an agreement with the appraisal district during the informal process, often resulting in a reduction in the appraised property value, said Jennifer Rodriguez, communications director for the Bexar County Appraisal District. Dave Gannon, chair of the Bexar Appraisal District's nine-member board of directors, said rather than making a change that could lead to fewer protests on property valuations, he'd like to see more more Bexar County residents challenge their property appraisals. He described those protests as one of the few times citizens can exert power over their government outside of the ballot box. “We want you to because we know these numbers are not perfect because they cannot be,” Gannon said. “It as a uniquely Texan opportunity to provide our citizens mechanisms that no other citizens anywhere else in the country has available. This is an opportunity that no one else has, and it should be appreciated.” The Bexar County Appraisal Distirct board is scheduled to consider the appraisal process change when it meets on Sept. 10.
Bexar County Appraisal District Tarrant County Appraisal District Bexar Appraisal District Bexar County Appraisal Distirct Texas Association Of Appraisal Districts U.S. Census Bureau Texas Comptrollers Office Robert Bruce Brent South Dave Gannon Albert Uresti Dan Villarreal Stephanie Gonzales Aubrey Chancellor Jennifer Rodriguez Erika Hizel Naomi Miller Bexar County Texas Tarrant County Hunt County San Antonio South Fort Worth
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