t3hMalk if they can change every house is cimmaron and Bell Tower which is one of the largest neighborhood in town to market value. You can take that "they can't get to every house every year" excuse and shove it, I'm tired of hearing it and with the amount of research I have done on the CAD don't believe it. I'm sorry if I have offended your friend or relative but I don't care and I have no respect for Perry but that's just my opinion and it will not hurt my feelings if you don't agree with me. Also most people who own a home have or can find transportation if you can get to the store or mall you can get to the CAD so please stop it with the weak excuses.

Hrm. I could have sworn I had stated before my last post that my mother doesn't drive. Oh, well. The fact remains that she doesn't drive and probably couldn't, even if she were to learn, due to her eyesight.

Bimesjr: My mother has been dealing with Mr. Perez and whatever he values the house at since 2005, when she inherited the house from my grandfather after he passed away, and only once has she felt the value was too high on the home and that was the time I took her to the informal that I mentioned in the previous post. See, she understands that an individual appraiser, like Mr. Perez for example, has THOUSANDS of homes, if not more, to appraise on his own.

Since so many of you folks seem to think that it's so unfair with the way things are done at the appraisal district, let me ask you this: what procedures would constitute a fair value?

If you have ideas on how to get a more appropriate value and to do it efficiently, then by all means share!

And SouthernGal, in reference to your point about how it's hard for the elderly and/or disabled to go every year:

My mother does not drive, as stated above. She probably couldn't with her eyesight if she were to ever try to learn. She had to request a particular time and day to go see Mr. Perez, which the district had no problem doing, since someone would have to pick her up in Port Lavaca and take her to Victoria and back.

You can, in fact, request when you go see them to try to get your value lowered.

Furthermore, you can also appoint someone to go instead of you to try to get your value lowered.

How do I know this? My mother was considering just sending me instead of her needing to be picked up and taken, seeing as I live in the house, and she asked if it was possible.

The appraisal district will do all that they can to accommodate for those that have limited time or mobility, you just have to request it.

SouthernGal is right everyone needs to protest their taxes every year, you need to be on a first name basis with your appraiser. Let me say there are some good appraisers that work at the Vic CAD But the CAD is playing the percentages. Its like when a credit card Co. over charges you there hoping most people don't catch it or don't care enough to deal with the hassle to fix it.

T3hMalk that is a hart warming story but I have been dealing with perry perez since 2005 and yes he lowered my value one year too. Then the next year raised it $11,000 to make up for it. My taxes have gone up 30% in the last 4 years so look at your taxes over the last 6 years. Then tell me what a great guy perez is.

Recommendation: Go fight yearly? This is very hard on alot of elderly or disabled people. To me..they have no right to increase the value of your home $10,000 a year, when it's in an older addition and they have not even looked at it! You are right, you MAY NOT WIN the battle! They just don't care. But I am going to go next year, and I think more people should go. But before you say "just go appeal", remember that's very hard on many older homeowners.

I took my mother last year to go to the informal, which was all she needed to do to get her value lowered.

Informals are the one-on-one meetings with the appraisers to try to get your value lowered. She didn't need to protest and go in front of the Appraisal Review Board to get her value lowered.

I live in the house she owns, which she rents to my fiance and me, and since she doesn't drive, I took her.

Perry Perez was very reasonable with her. We brought in photos indicating the severity of the foundation damage, which was enough for him to lower it to something more reasonable, without question or hassle.

I don't know if you folks that are vilifying the district and it's employees are just walking in there ready to start the verbal punching from the get-go, but my mother and I gave them the courtesy of being calm and civil and they returned us that same courtesy.

Mr. Perez was understanding and he and my mother were able to negotiate a value they could both agree was fair. He did not "screw" my mother on her value, as opposed to what a previous poster wrote.

If you think taxes are high currently, wait a year or two. It's is just getting started.
I'm telling you for the second time, start saving now.

Totally off base as far as real value what you could really get for your home. Appraisals are based on what the city and county budgets need raised the easiest. Just way screw the tax payer. I can't believe anyone can accept the current method of property tax assesment.

I see where everyone is coming from. There are some houses that really and truly can not protest their value because their house is actually worth the $200,000 it is appraised for.

As for the people that are singling out individuals in the community...have you ever thought that maybe they are the people that have been protesting their properties every year to keep them at a reasonable level?

If you let your house go from $140,000 to $150,000 in a year and don't protest, you are basically saying you agree with the increase. If you want your house to be appraised fairly, you have to go and fight yearly. You may not win every battle, but maybe in upcoming years they will remember to be more aware when making their judgement of your house.

Everyone is forgetting about the realtors. They take the CAD value of houses and tack on an extra 10 to 20 percent of the houses worth to try to sell them. When the house sells for that then of course your taxes are going to be higher and also this effect all the neibhoring houses that are similar in their value.

catahula wrote:

"You must go in with pictures of the home, indications that there is loss if there are no improvements to keep up with the Jones or style (like running out and buying granite counter tops). Then show how your home value would be much lower on the market that your neighbors. It has worked for us."

Glad this worked for you. But beware, it doesn't work for all!

We did the exact same thing (pictures and everything) and, as I stated in my previous post, it didn't work!

However IMO if most, if not all, of us argue and complain maybe they will pay attention the next go around.

Everyone, it's not just the appraisal district that's doing this stupid abomination. The state comptroller's office puts an enormous amount on CADs to raise property values. This is so the state pays less of the tax burden for schools. Carole Keeton Strayhorn was neck deep in this and then tried to pass herself off as a conservative! Makes me wanna barf in my oatmeal!

I understand that the county appraisers have a tough job, but give me a break!! How is it a fair and impartial hearing when it is just you and the guy who did your appraisal sitting in his office? I would think you would have a better chance of getting your taxes lowered if you didn't essentailly have to tell the "judge" he did his job wrong. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be real happy about helping people either if I had 20 people a day telling me I am bad at my job.

Check out John Haliburton on Dewitt CAD website. Or, try the members of the appraisal review board. Or, especially Bruce Eppinger in Gemini Court. All of these are on the Victoria CAD site.

Check out James Waynes property on Yuma at victoriacad.org. Seems like this property is not "equal and uniform" to every other home on the street or in the neighborhood.

VBB

That is a very good point!!

How can they be considered "fair" if Atwells was over taxed by $100,000+? That doesn't sound like an "oops" to me.

And, since they stated it was an error, every appraisal that appraisor did should be scrutinized by someone else.

I agree with TxBohemain I also protested and if your adjuster is Perry Perez your just screwed.

Grim wrote:

"If you think your value is too high, then protest it. You can't complain that nothing is ever going to change unless you make your voice heard."

However this is not a guarantee it will change either!!

It's good for Atwell he got his taxes lowered.
We didn't. And we did protest.
We went in with the same attitude like Atwell but left with a different one, and not a good one.
The adjuster just said basically that's the way it is.

The homes off John Stockbauer are all taxed at 100% or more of there property value, then look at the homes in country club benchmark, and most of the homes in the west side of the VISD split are taxed at 60% - 70% of there property value. Check it out for yourself all the info is on the CAD website.

It almost seems that they set the rates much higher than they should be, knowing that only a handful of people will go to the trouble of filing a protest and take time off from work to show up and give testimony. Kind of the way health insurance companies will deny a claim until you protest knowing that a significant number of people will just say oh well and pay the extra themselves, thereby adding to the companies coffers.

If the evaluations are as fair as this group can make them, then we need a NEW group. I'm tired of my evaluation going up year after year after year by the same amount, while my house continues to decline year after year. I wonder if the property evaluations of the people on this board go up like mine.

If you think your value is too high, then protest it. You can't complain that nothing is ever going to change unless you make your voice heard.

Proof! Mine might sell for the 1999 ($84,000)...and my
tax statement is OVER $40,000 more. Not fair...and all the
articles you write....nothing will change my mind. They just don't care!