The Montgomery County Appraisal District received 18,413 protests from residential property owners as of the deadline June 1.
MCAD mailed out about 200,000 total notices of appraised value in 2016 for residential property, commercial property and business personal property—tangible items in a business owner’s possession that are necessary for the business to function.
“Our valuations are strictly driven by the market,” MCAD Deputy Chief Appraiser Tony Belinoski said. “We have a big demand for property in Montgomery County. Residential properties and the supply are right where they need to be to make it a sellers market.”
In 2015, Montgomery County saw 5,500 new subdivision lots platted for residential construction, Belinoski said.
Montgomery County saw double-digit percentage increases regularly before 2008—when the U.S. housing market crashed, leading to a slowdown in local property value increases.
“Even during that time we saw a downturn across other areas in the nation, but Montgomery County didn’t really see a downturn. Values simply didn’t increase as much as they had in the past,” Belinoski said. “Since then, we have steadily seen the market rise here in the county.”
MCAD Chief Appraiser Mark Castleschouldt said metro areas of Mongtomery County are seeing values increase, despite the oil and gas downturn, which has impacted the number of people losing their jobs.
“[The Property Tax Code] has changed a lot, but the appraisal district is just responsible for appraising the property at market value,” Castleschouldt said. “We have two duties: appraise all property and administer the exemptions a property owner may be eligible for, be it a homestead, an over 65 [years of] age exemption, [or] a disability exemption.”
Tyler Lewis, a resident of Trace Creek in The Village of Indian Springs, is one of many homeowners in his neighborhood who protested their 2016 appraisal. However, after a review of his property, MCAD did not drop his home’s valuation, he said.
“I’ve filed for a hearing, but I don’t know how it’s going to go," Lewis said. "I feel that the mark-up on my appraisal is way out of line, but based on my experience last year I’m afraid that the hearing is going to be unyielding.”
Lewis’ 2,122-square-foot home was built in the late '80s, and he purchased it in September of 2014. He said he has experienced a 51 percent increase in his home's taxable value since 2014.
Lewis also protested his 2015 valuation, but said he felt belittled by the process.
“I thought that if you had a homestead exemption on your house, it couldn’t increase in value more than 10 percent in a given year,” Lewis said. “That’s true, except what I didn’t know is that when the house changes hands, the county has a grace year where they get to reset the house to what they think is market value that year. From then on out, it can’t increase more than 10 percent.”
Castleschouldt said MCAD does what they can to work with homeowners protesting their appraisal.
“We tell [homeowners] specifically, these are the things you need to do to ensure your rights, your remedies and responsibilities are met,” Castleschouldt said. “[Homeowners] get a chance to come in and sit down. You should know more about your property than anybody, but sometimes that’s not true.”
The Montgomery County Appraisal District received 18,413 protests from residential property owners as of the deadline June 1.
MCAD mailed out about 200,000 total notices of appraised value in 2016 for residential property, commercial property and business personal property—tangible items in a business owner’s possession that are necessary for the business to function.
“Our valuations are strictly driven by the market,” MCAD Deputy Chief Appraiser Tony Belinoski said. “We have a big demand for property in Montgomery County. Residential properties and the supply are right where they need to be to make it a sellers market.”
In 2015, Montgomery County saw 5,500 new subdivision lots platted for residential construction, Belinoski said.
Montgomery County saw double-digit percentage increases regularly before 2008—when the U.S. housing market crashed, leading to a slowdown in local property value increases.
“Even during that time we saw a downturn across other areas in the nation, but Montgomery County didn’t really see a downturn. Values simply didn’t increase as much as they had in the past,” Belinoski said. “Since then, we have steadily seen the market rise here in the county.”
MCAD Chief Appraiser Mark Castleschouldt said metro areas of Mongtomery County are seeing values increase, despite the oil and gas downturn, which has impacted the number of people losing their jobs.
“[The Property Tax Code] has changed a lot, but the appraisal district is just responsible for appraising the property at market value,” Castleschouldt said. “We have two duties: appraise all property and administer the exemptions a property owner may be eligible for, be it a homestead, an over 65 [years of] age exemption, [or] a disability exemption.”
Tyler Lewis, a resident of Trace Creek in The Village of Indian Springs, is one of many homeowners in his neighborhood who protested their 2016 appraisal. However, after a review of his property, MCAD did not drop his home’s valuation, he said.
“I’ve filed for a hearing, but I don’t know how it’s going to go," Lewis said. "I feel that the mark-up on my appraisal is way out of line, but based on my experience last year I’m afraid that the hearing is going to be unyielding.”
Lewis’ 2,122-square-foot home was built in the late '80s, and he purchased it in September of 2014. He said he has experienced a 51 percent increase in his home's taxable value since 2014.
Lewis also protested his 2015 valuation, but said he felt belittled by the process.
“I thought that if you had a homestead exemption on your house, it couldn’t increase in value more than 10 percent in a given year,” Lewis said. “That’s true, except what I didn’t know is that when the house changes hands, the county has a grace year where they get to reset the house to what they think is market value that year. From then on out, it can’t increase more than 10 percent.”
Castleschouldt said MCAD does what they can to work with homeowners protesting their appraisal.
“We tell [homeowners] specifically, these are the things you need to do to ensure your rights, your remedies and responsibilities are met,” Castleschouldt said. “[Homeowners] get a chance to come in and sit down. You should know more about your property than anybody, but sometimes that’s not true.”
