Affordable home owners in Austin's Mueller neighborhood are seeking clarification behind a recent increase in property values that some claim may be insurmountable.

Mueller residents and a slew of attorneys spoke during the Nov. 2 Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors meeting to defend the master-planned community's affordable home program, which they say is in jeopardy because affordable home prices are no longer being taken into account after the first year of appraisals.

One affordable home sold at $179,000, for example, was assessed the next year at $378,000 in value, or about the price of some market-rate Mueller homes. Resident Janeka Rector said the appraisal district's 10-percent cap in property tax increases is the only reason she could afford such a steep increase.

“By 2016 and 2017, my affordable home will no longer be affordable,” Rector said.

Rector was among four Mueller residents to speak during the TCAD meeting but far more may be affected by the recent change in property valuations, according to  Patti Summerville, executive director of the Mueller Foundation, which manages the neighborhood’s affordable home program—or about 25 percent of all Mueller residences.

Among the neighborhood’s 290 affordable home owners, only 100 are safe from being priced out based on the 2015 property assessments, Summerville said. Fifty of the remaining 190 owners will see such substantial tax increases, she said, they may be forced to sell or be foreclosed upon.

But the heart of the issue may rest with 51 affordable homes that have been resold. Neighborhood restrictions prevent the owner from receiving more than 2 percent of the home sale’s value, yet the Mueller Foundation in 14 cases has re-sold affordable properties at market-rate prices to help fund its broader efforts.

That recent reselling at market prices, combined with market forces, is why Mueller affordable home owners are just now starting to see higher assessed values, said Judith Hargrove, a lawyer representing TCAD.

“TCAD is frankly being blamed … for a situation that the Mueller Foundation created by the way it established this program,” Hargrove said. “It did not restrict the resale prices of these properties—it just didn’t; you’ve seen that, and we have evidence of that.”

Hargrove suggested the Mueller Foundation reconsider the way it is financed, an idea already embraced by Summerville and Greg Weaver, executive vice president of Catellus Development Co., the team picked by the city to manage the Mueller neighborhood. The TCAD lawyer also suggested a change may be needed in state law to further protect affordable home values.

State Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, said she would rather lawyers from both sides find common ground.

“Do we litigate this and go into a court, or do we wait until next legislative session to give you clarifying language that you need?” Israel said. “Neither of those prospects help the real families that are hurting today.”

Because the item was slated for discussion only, TCAD’s Board of Directors took no action Nov. 2. Board Chairman Richard Lavine confirmed that board members intended to discuss the matter further with attorneys in closed session and did not know what action, if any, may be taken in future meetings.