HARDIN COUNTY, Texas — Some Hardin County property owners were shocked to see an increase in their appraisal values. Hardin County chief appraiser Crystal Smith said letters went out on April 5th to anyone who's value increased by a thousand dollars or more.
Ron Sons owns a home in Lumberton, and purchased three acres of property in Silsbee last year. He said when he got his tax statement for his property in Silsbee, his first thought was that it had to have been delivered to the wrong house.
"It was an 80% increase," Sons said.
Sons said they purchased the property because it's near village creek. He said it's got a huge oak tree and a pond, but also an old, run-down barber shop that needs to come down. He said he hasn't made a single improvement since purchasing the land.
"With all the work that needs to be done on it, that's, to me, a crazy price, because I couldn't sell it for that price," Sons said.
Sons said the land is in an older neighborhood, surrounded by lots of abandoned houses. Before he can even consider building on it, he'd need to remove loads of trash and clean-up the overgrown trees.
Sons said he paid a prorated amount last year, and was an expecting an increase, but not to this extent. He said he looked into the tax history and found that the value hasn't had this dramatic of an increase in at least five years.
Smith said the Appraisal District usually compares your property to similar properties that have been recently sold to determine the value. This is called the market approach. Texas property code requires appraisal districts to be anywhere from 95%-105% of the market value.
Smith said in the appraisal notices property owners will find a "Protest Form" that they may fill out and return by May 15th if they disagree with the appraisal value.
Smith said they encourage property owners to contact their office with any information that could assist the appraiser in determining the market value. Things like pictures of the inside of the home if they have damages, documentation of any estimates of repairs that are currently needed, restrictions on the property that might affect the market value, if they just purchased the property bring us your closing statement to view, or if they have a current appraisal that was done on the property. She said the appraiser can review these things and see if adjustments need to be made.
If the property owner and the appraiser don't come to an agreement, and the property owner still does not agree with the value Smith said they can then file a "formal protest." Once filed, they'll go before the appraisal review board to discuss their concerns, and bring in supporting documentation of what they feel is the current market value. Smith said the board is made up of taxpayers that do not work for the appraisal district.
"They are there to listen to both the taxpayer and the appraisal district evidence and determine what they feel the appraised value should be, based on the evidence presented by the property owner and the appraisal district in the board hearing that day," Smith said.