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“I don’t know where they get this stuff,” he said. “I think it’s going to take a depression for those people to wake up and see what’s happening.”
McEnroe’s appraisal increased from about $131,000 to nearly $144,000 in one year. Because he’s 87 and qualifies for the seniors tax break, his tax bill is frozen.
“But if people like us don’t complain and say something, what are the people who are not as fortunate as I am going to do?” he asked. “There ought to be a little compassion for them.”
The Victoria Central Appraisal District mailed notices to 29,500 real property accounts this year, notifying the owners their values increased or decreased by $1,000 or more. That’s about 60 percent of all the accounts.
The city, county and other taxing agencies will use the new appraisal values to figure property tax rates this summer.
The appraisal district also sent notices to anyone who hasn’t applied for a homestead exemption, if their mailing and street addresses are the same.
“We ran across about 3,400 of those,” Chief Appraiser John Haliburton said. “That’s more than I thought we’d have.”
The value of a single-family homestead increased an average of 6 percent this year and the value of commercial property increased an average of 20 percent.
But Haliburton said those numbers don’t say much. He said, for instance, property that was a vacant lot last year could have a house on it today
That would drastically increase the value and skew the average, he said.
“There are so many different variables, it makes it difficult to come up with anything meaningful,” he said. “Some property went up a lot in value, some didn’t go up any at all and some went down.”
Taxpayers have until June 9 to file a protest with the appraisal district if they believe their appraisal is incorrect. Haliburton said the best first step is simply to call his office at 361-576-3621 to talk with an appraiser.
“They can review the account with you and determine if it needs to be adjusted or explain to you how the value was arrived at,” he said.
If the person is still not satisfied, the protest form mailed with the new appraisal can be filled out and mailed to the appraisal district.
McEnroe said often when houses age, they deteriorate. The appraised values should reflect that by decreasing, he said. But the values don’t go down because the appraisers don’t physically inspect the property, he said
The appraisal district has seven appraisers to inspect the entire county. They attempt to appraise each parcel at least once every three or four years.
“We looked at about 11,000 accounts this last year,” Haliburton said. That’s about one-fourth of all the accounts.
Houses are divided into quality classes ranging from 1 to 7, with a 7 being top of the line. Appraisers compare the sales in comparable classes throughout the county and make adjustments.
Appraisers then examine the neighborhoods they’re assigned and compare the values they have with the sales in those subdivisions. That information is used to message the values for each of the seven categories.
Bill Russell, who serves on the appraisal district board, said the appraisals serve as the basis for setting tax rates. But he said it’s the city council, school board and other local entities that determine what the tax rate will be.
“The appraisal district doesn’t have a dog in the fight at all,” he said. “They don’t collect the money and they don’t get the money.”
Paul Polasek, a city council member who also serves on the appraisal district board, agreed.
“People just need to remember this is only half the process,” he said. “They can visit their taxing agencies, like the city council or school district, and discuss their tax rates.”
Russell and Polasek said they are confident that the new appraisals are accurate overall.
“I know commercial appraisals were given a closer look this year,” Polasek said. “Some of those needed to be updated.”
The appraisal for the Victoria Advocate building increased from $505,300 to $1.7 million this year. One O’Connor Plaza went from $6 million to $9.69 million and the downtown Rosebud Fountain and Grill went from $77,000 to $237,500.
Russell said the appraisal district has hired additional appraisers, including a commercial appraiser.
“My guess is there might be some values that jumped significantly to put them in line with their neighbors,” he said. “I know the downtown area was getting a very careful look.”
One upset taxpayer expressed feelings about the new appraisals in person Monday.
He showed up at the appraisal district office and attempted to turn over a desk, knocking a computer monitor into an open desk drawer.
A police report was filed, but Haliburton said no one was injured and there was no damage.
David Tewes is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6515 or dtewes@vicad.com.