By Joe Reavis
Staff Writer
Property owners in Sachse received their appraisals earlier this month and, for the most part, they show a spike in valuations compared to a year ago.
Property within the city limits falls in either Dallas or Collin counties and valuations for both are up. Property in the Collin County portion of Sachse increased from $536,545,329, to $643,000,000 according to preliminary estimates. This $106,454,671, or 19.84 percent increase, includes new construction of $68,160,000.
Sachse property in Dallas County went up from $888,635,852 in 2014 to an estimated $1,007,618,698 in 2015. This $118,982,846, or 13.39 percent increase includes $48,269,757 in new construction.
The average Sachse home, located in Collin County, is $248,870 and Sachse homes in Dallas County average $165,606. Last year’s valuations were $216,928 and $161,639, respectively
Want to protest
Regardless of the county, if you disagree with values calculated by the Dallas or Collin Central Appraisal District you can formally protest valuations by filing a written Notice of Protest by June 1.
Valuations released by the Dallas Central Appraisal District in Dallas County rose by 12.48 percent from $175,072,563,521 in 2014 to $196,923,956,188 in 2015, a change of $21,851,392,667.
Valuations rose 10.79 percent in Collin County this year, to $93 billion, according to appraisal estimates released by the Collin Central Appraisal District last month. That includes some $2.7 billion in new construction added to tax rolls.
The appraisal districts calculate values for cities, school districts, county colleges and municipal utility districts. Those values are used by governmental entities to set tax rates to fund their operations.
As happens many years, property owners question the assigned values and wonder through what process the numbers are derived. Home values, for example, are calculated using values of the sales of comparable homes in the area but also can be affected by supply and demand.
“With a shortage on available properties and so many coming to the area, market values are steadily rising,” property appraiser Diane Difilippo said. “The problem we are seeing is with homes involved in multiple offer situations. In bidding wars, buyers are going significantly above the asking price. The problem is the numbers still have to support that.”
The main reasons to protest tax values with the central appraisal districts are concerns about the market or appraised value of a property, unequal appraisal of property, inclusion of property on the appraisal roll, exemptions that may apply, qualification for agricultural or timber use, taxable status, which entities can assess taxes, ownership questions, change in land use and any action by the appraisal districts that applies to and adversely affects property.
Short of a formal protest, property owners often can work out differences through an informal review with appraisal district staff. The property owner and appraisal district staff review information and try to reach a mutual agreement without a hearing.
A Notice of Protest can be filed if no agreement is reached in an informal review. It is held before an Appraisal Review Board that hears evidence from the appraisal district and from the property owner. Notice of Protest forms are available at both the Dallas and Collin Central Appraisal Districts.
An ARB ruling can then be appealed to a state district court if a property owner is not satisfied with the outcome.
Because of an expected high volume of tax inquiries, the appraisal district is observing extended hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 21 and 28.
The Collin CAD office is located at 250 Eldorado Parkway in McKinney. The Dallas CAD is located at 2949 N. Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. Their websites are www.collincad.org and www.dallascad.org, respectively.
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