The appraisal district’s primary duties include, placing all taxable property on the appraisal roll, appraising all property at market value, approval or denial of exemption applications, approval or denial of ag-use appraisal applications, change of use “rollback” determination for previously qualified agricultural land, and notifying the owner or owner’s agent of certain actions taken by the district.
Placing property on the appraisal roll
The district compiles a listing of all property as of the January 1st assessment date. A unique identifier, called a “property ID”, is generated by the district’s computer assisted mass appraisal system. We then input such key data elements as name, address, legal description, taxing units, acreage, neighborhood, improvement type, improvement quality, improvement size and improvement condition.
Appraising property at market value
The district is on an annual re-appraisal program, with January 1st being the “as of” date for all appraisals except where the owner of certain inventories has decided to designate September 1st the “as of” date.
The district utilizes the three generally accepted appraisal methods, cost, market data comparison and income. The appraiser will use the method considered most appropriate, based on the type of property and available data.
The definition of market value is stated in the Texas Property Tax Code, section 1.04(7) and is listed in the “Glossary of Terms”.
Exemptions
The district receives several types of exemption applications that effect the final taxable value of property. These exemptions include:
- Residential homesteads
- Charitable organizations
- Community housing development organizations
- Youth spiritual, mental and physical development associations
- Religious organizations
- Schools
- Disabled veterans or surviving spouse
- Historic sites (if approved by the governing body of the effected taxing entity)
- Limitation of school tax on homesteads of the elderly (referred to as “school tax freeze”)
- Nonprofit water supply
Generally speaking the property that is the subject of an exemption application must be owned by the applicant on January 1st of the application year. The tax code has some exceptions to this rule, one being the “school tax freeze”, please contact the district to get specific details. You may submit your questions using the “ask the district” option from this web-site.
Open space (ag-use) appraisal
If a property meets the qualification requirements of the Texas Property Tax Code, chapter 23, sub-chapter C or D, the district will make two appraisals. First, a market value appraisal, described above and additionally an ag-use appraisal. The ag-use appraisal is an income approach to value, based on the productivity of a category of land (i.e. dryland crop, improved or native pasture). The district, based on the method prescribed by the tax code, uses cash lease or share lease information to build its appraisal models.
Change of use “rollback” of ag-use appraisals
- Open-space (ag-use)
Rules for a “rollback tax” exist for properties receiving special land valuation. Under 1-d-1, a rollback is triggered by a physical change in use. Reduced intensity of use would not trigger a rollback, but ceasing all agriculture activity would. Taxes are recaptured for the three years proceeding the year of change.
The rollback tax is imposed on the difference between the taxes imposed on the land for each of the three years preceding the year in which the change of use occurs and the tax based on the market value in each of those years.
Effective June 15, 2021, HB 3833 makes the change of use penalty for ag valuation to three years prior instead of five and only allows interests to be charged if the taxes become delinquent.
Notification
If the district reappraises your property, denies an exemption application or determines that a change of use to agricultural has occurred, we must mail you a notice of the action being taken. The notice must advise the owner/owner’s agent of the time frame for filing a written protest.
