Property tax inequity

TO THE EDITOR:

Many people have made charges about county corruption here and in other parts of our beloved Texas but nothing seems to get done about it.

I have a property just two blocks from a property the Bowie County judge owns through one of his many companies. The judge’s property is appraised at $29,750 an acre while the properties next to the judge’s property are appraised at $78,411 an acre and $80,000 an acre with the property across the street appraised at over $100,000 an acre. Not only that but there were three properties sold last year within a block of my property for on average, less than half of the appraised value by the Bowie County Appraisal District.

Texas law states, “An appraiser’s job is to appraise property at its market value, equitably and uniformly.” My Granary St. Natural Food Store building is in no way near the quality and cost of the local Walmart just a half mile away, yet my building appraisal is far more per square foot of floor space than Walmart’s building. For every dollar Walmart and our county judge gets in property tax breaks is a dollar added to yours and my taxes. Fellow Texans, we have a proud history for standing up against bad government inequities. Will we fail now?

Currently there is a prosecutor from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation looking into alleged wrong doing by the Bowie County Chief Appraiser. If you have reason to believe you or someone else is being unfairly treated by the BCCA, you may add to the case. To do that you must use “Case # PTP20180011423” and send your information to kim.ferreiro@tdlr.texas.gov or via phone at 512-539-5636.

As Ben Franklin said, “We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately”

Robert Worthen Texarkana, Texas