(Guadalupe) — The Guadalupe Appraisal District is reminding property owners to check their mailboxes. Chief Appraiser Jamie Osborne says thousands of appraisals with market values as of Jan. 1 are officially out.
“We want property owners to be aware and review their notice of appraised value when they get that in the mail and once they review that, if they believe that the value should be different than what is indicated in that preliminary value to file their protest and turn those into our office,” said Osborne.
As of the Jan. 1, 2019 appraisal date, Osborne says on average, there is a reported increase on properties across the county.
“Guadalupe County, everybody is aware that we are a growing county and values continue to expand and grow. If we look at year over year, what we are seeing excluding the new value in the county — so existing properties, we are seeing about a five percent change in overall — again compared to 2018,” said Osborne.
Despite what taxpayers notice on their notices, Osborne, again, reminds property owners that any and all values can be argued.
“Again, if you get that notice of appraised value and you believe that that value should be different go ahead and file the protest with our office and then we can go through the administrative process of an informal hearing and then after that, if we can not come to an agreement value, then that protest is moved on to appraisal review board,” said Osborne.
A total of 68,011 notices have been mailed out. This includes property owners who have recently purchased property in Guadalupe County. In addition, notices will be mailed to “owners of property with a $1,000 or greater increase in value when compared to the prior year, owners of recently annexed parcels and to owners of property that have filed a rendition for the current year.”
The written notice of protest deadline is Wednesday, May 15, 2019 or 30 days after a Notice of Appraised Value is mailed, whichever is later.
Property owners who have not submitted homestead applications or agricultural use applications are reminded that the filing deadline is April 30. Questions can also answered by calling 830-303-3313.