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Memorandum - WCAD Lawsuit
To: Landowners in Williamson
County
From: David Braun
RE: Potential lawsuit in Williamson
County
Issue:
Williamson County Appraisal District (WCAD) is designating
a home site of one acre (for properties greater than one acre)
and appraising the home site acre at a higher value than the
surrounding acres without regard to whether any justification
exists for the higher appraisal (for example – even
if no home or infrastructure has actually been built on the
one acre). This procedure is applied uniformly across all
non-commercial properties in the county, but it typically
only affects the final tax bill of properties having an agricultural
valuation on their property. WCAD assigns values of $15,000
- $60,000 for the 1-acre home site. This has resulted in an
estimated 4,000 landowners in Williamson Co. paying $300-$1,200
dollars more per year in taxes.
EXAMPLE:
There is a 60-acre property in Williamson Co. with an agricultural
valuation and no house built on it. The land’s market
value is $360,000 or $6,000 per acre. WCAD designates 1-acre
as a home site (even though there is no house built), and
appraises the 1-acre home site at $30,000 and the other
59 acres at $5,593/acre. The net result is still a total
market value of $360,000, but the impact of shifting value
to the non-agricultural home site is a five-fold tax increase.
Incorrect
taxation:
1-acre home site at $30,000 and 59 acres at $2/acre
Tax rate: 2.3 %
$30,000 x .023 = $690
59 acres x $2.00/acre = $118
Total Tax = $808
Correct
taxation:
1-acre home site at $6,000 and 59 acres at Ag rate (assume
Ag value is $2/acre).
Tax rate: 2.3%
$6,000 X .023 = $138
59 acres x $2.00/acre = $118
Total Tax = $256
Amount of Taxes overpaid = $552
If a house is ever built on the one acre,
then WCAD raises the appraised value of the home site even
more. They are giving an excessive appraisal to the 1-acre
site, even though there are no individual characteristics
of the one acre that warrant a higher appraisal. The apparent
purpose of this procedure is to deny part of the agricultural
valuation guaranteed to Texas landowners in the Texas constitution.
Facts:
The internal allocation of value
that WCAD uses does not affect the landowners who are paying
taxes on the full market value of their land. It only affects
the landowners whose land is appraised with an agricultural
valuation. WCAD argues that their internal allocation is valid
because they are using a valid appraisal technique. However,
this policy taxes agricultural land more.
WCAD is applying these increased appraisal
values on the home site, despite the fact that the particular
acre that they pull out of a lower AG valuation has no special
characteristics that would make its market value higher than
the surrounding acres (i.e. a great overlook, road frontage).
We believe, through discussions with independent appraisers,
that the technique used by WCAD is not a generally accepted
appraisal technique.
Next Steps:
We believe that there are approximately 4,000 landowners with
property in Williamson Co. that is affected by WCAD’s
policy described above. Our firm recommends that interested
landowners fax us a copy of their 2006 Notice of Appraised
Value as soon as they receive it for a free evaluation. In
order to preserve the right to dispute the appraisal, we must
file a protest with WCAD within 30 days of receipt of the
Notice. Braun & Associates will represent the landowners
at the Appraisal Review Board hearing. If our request for
a lower valuation on the one acre is denied, we will file
suit in district court.
Each landowner should contact Braun
& Associates immediately upon receipt of their 2006 Proposed
Tax Statement, if they are interested in protesting their
valuation. Please contact Cassie Gresham at (512) 894-5426,
if you have any questions.
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