Galveston leader calls for appraisals freeze
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry is calling on the governor to freeze 2020 property appraisals at 2019 levels because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Henry wrote to Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, requesting the property assessment freeze “so local families don’t get hit with an additional economic burden” during the global pandemic. Galveston County Central Appraisal District officials said the vast majority of county properties saw an increase in value in 2020, which would lead to higher property taxes.
“The 2020 assessments are based on values prior to this pandemic and the economic consequences that came with it,” Henry, a Republican, said in a statement. “The right thing to do at this time would be to freeze values and reassess for next year when the economic impact can be taken into account.”
Tommy Watson, the county’s chief appraiser, said the district was simply following state law by assessing 2020 properties based on fair market value gleaned from 2019 data. He acknowledged that 2020 values will likely take a negative hit because the once-robust Texas economy has suffered as businesses have shuttered because of the virus outbreak and oil prices have tanked.
“January the 1st is our appraisal date, and on January the 1st, the market was still good,” Watson said. “Any effect that this pandemic will have on values will take place in 2021.”
While Texas began a phased reopening of its economy this week, continued social distancing requirements are further complicating matters for county property owners unhappy with their assessments. Watson said that the appraisal district review board will not be doing inperson hearings for now, and that property owners are directed to file complaints online via email or over the phone. Watson added that there have been “way more” complaints filed this year than in the past.
The lack of in-person hearings has rankled Henry, who believes that social distancing has infringed on a key course of action for property owners. Henry aired this grievance in a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton, requesting that he freeze property appraisals at 2019 values because of the “potential lack of due process” in contesting appraisals. The Galveston County Daily News reported that Republican state Rep. Mayes Middleton, whose district includes portions of Galveston County, also requested a legal opinion about whether cancellation of in-person property value protests violates Texans’ constitutional rights.
“Protesting one’s property assessment is one of these rights that must be protected, especially at a time when property appraisals in our state are skyrocketing and when so many families are facing economic hardship due to the pandemic,” Henry wrote to Paxton, also a Republican.
Watson said online complaints to the central appraisal district are not unusual, even in normal times. In 2019, the central appraisal district fielded more than 1,600 property assessment complaints online and settled nearly 40 percent of those claims.
Henry also sent letters to state House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, as well as local state representatives and senators, urging the legislators to take up property tax appraisal reform in the coming legislative session.
In his letter to Bonnen, Henry noted that Galveston County was one of the few local governments to voice support for revenue caps on local governments during the 2019 legislative session, despite the fact that, in his view, the revenue cap didn’t go far enough in providing property tax relief to local taxpayers.
Henry added that Galveston County has cut its property tax rate by 18 percent over the last eight years, but local taxpayers need the state’s other taxing entities to follow suit.
“I have done what I can within the powers of my elected office to hold the line for taxpayers,” Henry wrote to Bonnen. “It is now up to you, as one of our local legislators, to take action on this issue.”