New Val Verde County property owner Patrick Alejos speaks to Val Verde County Commissioners Court members about the county property tax rate during a public hearing held as part of Tuesday’s regular term meeting of the court. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
NEWS — County judge: ‘We’re lowering the tax rate”
By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A Val Verde County property owner who attended commissioners court Tuesday to complain about county taxes was reminded that the county is lowering the tax rate for the coming year.
Patrick Alejos, who told the court he had recently purchased property in the county, made his comments during a public hearing on the county’s proposed tax rate, held during the regular term meeting of Val Verde County Commissioners Court.
“We’ve already proposed the tax rate, and it’s been published. So if there’s somebody for it or against it, now would be the time to speak,” Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said after opening the hearing.
“Okay, well, I’m against it,” Alejos said as he approached the podium.
“I’m a new resident in Del Rio, and I currently reside in San Antonio. I have a house out here at the lake, and I got my taxes a couple months back, and they went up disproportionately, even compared to my San Antonio taxes, which have greater services, greater provisions, for the customers, and I wanted to find out what justified that increase for us to have to pay more money. I’m not sure what I’m getting for it,” Alejos told the court.
Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. explains that county commissioners court has agreed to lower the county property tax rate for the coming year. Owens made his comments Tuesday during a public hearing on the tax rate. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
“The value of the properties around me are all mobile homes. Mine is no different. It’s a manufactured home, so I was trying to understand why it went up so disproportionately. I understand that property values are going up, but they’re starting to come back down, and that being said, in a year from now, we’re going to be paying more taxes on something that’s really going to be undervalued in the next year or two,” Alejos added.
“I can tell you that we lowered the tax rate from where it was at. The proposed tax rate (for next year) is lower than what we had this year. What went up was your values. Our tax rate this year was .5121 (per $100 of property value), and it could have gone up a little bit more with the calculations, but this court decided not to do that. This court lowered it to .4977 (per $100 of property value),” Owens told Alejos.
County Auditor Matt Weingardt asked Alejos if he was claiming a homestead exemption on his Val Verde County property, and Alejos said he was not.
“The (property) values is what went up. This court did lower the tax rate compared to last year,” Owens reiterated.
When Alejos asked who set the property values, Owens said property values are set by the Val Verde County Appraisal District.
“They’ll send out appraisals every year, based on what was there Jan. 1, so they’ll send you out your proposed taxable value, and then at that point you have an opportunity to go in and argue or contest that,” Owens said.
“That’s not through us. The appraisal district appraises all property within Val Verde County, and the school district and the city, the Comstock school district, the hospital district, they all use those appraised values,” the county judge added.
“If you’re creating a budget for the year, and you’re basing it on what you’ve got as an estimated appraisal, and I go and contest it in January and I win, that could lower what you’re getting. I don’t understand why they’re not closer together or coincide with each other,” Alejos said.
“I’ll tell you the way it works: We get a value, somewhere in June or July, and then we get certified values in August after everybody has already protested, so if you had gone in and protested this year, and you win your case and the value doesn’t go up, when we get the certified value, that number is plugged into our budget as to what we’re going to have as far as revenue,” Owens said.
“I understand now, and I’ll be prepared in January,” Alejos said.
Owens noted it was his understanding there were a number of property value protests this year.
“Most of the values I was looking at on property that we own went up anywhere from 11 percent to about 23 percent, and I think that would be pretty much common,” Owens said.
Alejos thanked the judge and the court.
As Alejos was leaving, Weingardt also reminded him of the 3-2-1 discounts available for county property owners who pay their taxes early: a 3 percent discount for those who pay in October, a 2 percent discount for those who pay in November, and a 1 percent discount for those who pay in December.
NEWS — County judge: ‘We’re lowering the tax rate”
By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A Val Verde County property owner who attended commissioners court Tuesday to complain about county taxes was reminded that the county is lowering the tax rate for the coming year.
Patrick Alejos, who told the court he had recently purchased property in the county, made his comments during a public hearing on the county’s proposed tax rate, held during the regular term meeting of Val Verde County Commissioners Court.
“We’ve already proposed the tax rate, and it’s been published. So if there’s somebody for it or against it, now would be the time to speak,” Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said after opening the hearing.
“Okay, well, I’m against it,” Alejos said as he approached the podium.
“I’m a new resident in Del Rio, and I currently reside in San Antonio. I have a house out here at the lake, and I got my taxes a couple months back, and they went up disproportionately, even compared to my San Antonio taxes, which have greater services, greater provisions, for the customers, and I wanted to find out what justified that increase for us to have to pay more money. I’m not sure what I’m getting for it,” Alejos told the court.
“The value of the properties around me are all mobile homes. Mine is no different. It’s a manufactured home, so I was trying to understand why it went up so disproportionately. I understand that property values are going up, but they’re starting to come back down, and that being said, in a year from now, we’re going to be paying more taxes on something that’s really going to be undervalued in the next year or two,” Alejos added.
“I can tell you that we lowered the tax rate from where it was at. The proposed tax rate (for next year) is lower than what we had this year. What went up was your values. Our tax rate this year was .5121 (per $100 of property value), and it could have gone up a little bit more with the calculations, but this court decided not to do that. This court lowered it to .4977 (per $100 of property value),” Owens told Alejos.
County Auditor Matt Weingardt asked Alejos if he was claiming a homestead exemption on his Val Verde County property, and Alejos said he was not.
“The (property) values is what went up. This court did lower the tax rate compared to last year,” Owens reiterated.
When Alejos asked who set the property values, Owens said property values are set by the Val Verde County Appraisal District.
“They’ll send out appraisals every year, based on what was there Jan. 1, so they’ll send you out your proposed taxable value, and then at that point you have an opportunity to go in and argue or contest that,” Owens said.
“That’s not through us. The appraisal district appraises all property within Val Verde County, and the school district and the city, the Comstock school district, the hospital district, they all use those appraised values,” the county judge added.
“If you’re creating a budget for the year, and you’re basing it on what you’ve got as an estimated appraisal, and I go and contest it in January and I win, that could lower what you’re getting. I don’t understand why they’re not closer together or coincide with each other,” Alejos said.
“I’ll tell you the way it works: We get a value, somewhere in June or July, and then we get certified values in August after everybody has already protested, so if you had gone in and protested this year, and you win your case and the value doesn’t go up, when we get the certified value, that number is plugged into our budget as to what we’re going to have as far as revenue,” Owens said.
“I understand now, and I’ll be prepared in January,” Alejos said.
Owens noted it was his understanding there were a number of property value protests this year.
“Most of the values I was looking at on property that we own went up anywhere from 11 percent to about 23 percent, and I think that would be pretty much common,” Owens said.
Alejos thanked the judge and the court.
As Alejos was leaving, Weingardt also reminded him of the 3-2-1 discounts available for county property owners who pay their taxes early: a 3 percent discount for those who pay in October, a 2 percent discount for those who pay in November, and a 1 percent discount for those who pay in December.
No one else spoke during the public hearing.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
Brian
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