Most property owners in Freestone County received an appraisal notice last week that indicated an increase in proposed values for 2017. “It was a bit of a surprise to me,” says Bud Black, Chief Appraiser for the Freestone Central Appraisal District. “We’ve not seen as many increases in sales prices over the past five years as we’ve seen in the last eighteen months.”
Commercial land values have increased the most. Black says “we’ve watched these for a couple of years looking for a trend but made no changes until sufficient sales information was available to make changes.” He adds that “even with these changes, there are instances where our adjusted land and building values still are not up to the sales prices we’ve analyzed as far back as 2012.”
Residential properties have also increased. Surprisingly, homes that were built in the 1970’s and 1980’s have higher selling prices than those of previous years, many with no major renovations since they were built. “We analyzed sales in the various ‘neighborhoods’ and adjusted values from the information gathered,” says Black.
Residential properties on the Richland Chambers Lake saw increases as well. Black speculates that this change is directly attributable to the refilling of the lake after the recent drought that left the lake well below its normal fill level of 315.
Gas values continue to decrease on the appraisal roll as gas production continues to decline. Directly related to that is the exit of other oil & gas related industry in the area.
Most notices were mailed May 12, 2017 and the last day to file a protest is June 12,2017. The last day to file a protest on mineral, utility, and industrial properties will be June 22, 2017. Property owners are encouraged to contact the appraisal district should they have questions regarding their values. Many issues can be resolved informally without an appearance before the Appraisal Review Board.
For property owners whose issues cannot be informally resolved, hearings will be held by the Appraisal Review Board in July. In that setting, property owners who have filed a protest form will have the opportunity to present evidence as to why the appraisal district’s opinion of value is incorrect.
Records approved and certified to taxing jurisdictions on July 25. Following Chief Appraiser certification of values, the various taxing authorities will begin the process of adopting a tax rate for 2017.
