Wilbarger County Chief Appraiser offers insight into property valuations
(Editor’s Note: Sandy Burkett, Wilbarger County Chief Appraiser, has written the following to offer an insight into how property is valued for taxing purposes.)
Tax calculations cannot be justified accurately at this time as tax rates are set by the taxing entities for Wilbarger County and must be set (adopted) before September 30 or by the 60th day after receiving certified appraisal roll. After all hearings and the appraisal records are approved the Chief Appraiser will certify and submit the appraisal roll to the assessor for each taxing entity by July 25th. This roll contains the taxable properties and their appraised values used to calculate property tax bills by the assessor.
The Data Center did not prompt valuation spikes for any property owner in Wilbarger County.
Regarding the Data Center. When property receives special agricultural use (1-d-1) and converts the land to a non-agricultural purpose, such as a commercial development it triggers a rollback tax (also known as change-of-use). The local entities are the primary financial beneficiaries in taxes over the prior three years. After the change of use is applied the appraisal district values commercially developed property accordingly.
To clarify property value changes that were necessary in Wilbarger County, the appraisal district is reviewed by the Texas Comptroller to verify that the district is accurately appraising property at 100% market value. If the district falls below a 5% margin of error of the Comptroller’s findings the local values are declared “invalid”. Falling short results in significant cuts to state funding for local school districts. The district made essential adjustments to arrive at a more precise Market Value of all properties.
Property exemptions are mandated by the state to lower the tax burden and provide relief for specific groups. They ensure and protect from rapid market value increases which produces a taxable value. For homeowners this is related to homestead cap (Texas Tax Code Section 23.23) that cannot raise taxable value more than 10% annually, for other properties other than 1-d-1 agricultural use (Texas Tax Code Sections 23.51 thru 23.57) Texas established a 20% circuit breaker property tax limitation (Texas Tax Code Section 23.231) which applies to properties valued at 5.32 million or less. All these exemptions have provisions, please refer to the Texas Tax Code.
It has been extremely difficult to keep up with the soaring prices and volume sales to analyze the reflection of lowering market value for property owners. The appraisal district does not create the market it only reflects the market. The market is set at a price a property owner would buy or sell on an open competitive market.
Understanding the distinction between market and taxable helps calculate your annual property tax bill, focus on the factor of state limits and local exemptions that determine exactly your tax burden.
