(Seguin) — You no longer have to feel blindsided by an unexpected increase in your taxes or have to question what an entity’s proposed tax rate really means to you. That’s all because taxpayers in Guadalupe County now have access to the Truth In Taxation website.
Peter Snaddon, the chief appraiser for the Guadalupe Appraisal District, says the website provides an estimated amount of taxes to be imposed and other information on actions taken or being proposed by each local taxing unit.
“It was required by the code for this year obviously. This was from the 86th Legislative Session so this was not the most recent one that ended. It was prior to that. But they had it bracketed through population. So, anything under 200,000 population which we fall under wasn’t required to have it until this year. So, this is our first year. Some of the bigger metropolitans would have had it up and going from last year in 2020 but what this is going to do is it’s going to provide an opportunity for the taxpayers to go to a website that will be searchable very similar to our appraisal district website – you know your owner’s name and address or property identification number. Once, they plug that in there and they do the search, their property is going to come up there and they can view exactly potential impacts to upcoming budgets and tax rates that are currently underway with the taxing units – how that can impact their annual liability,” said Snaddon.
More importantly, he says the website is another way to keep taxpayers on top of the most recent data that exist on their property.
“It’s great because what it is going to provide you as well is the most recent recently certified figures which we just went through that process this past week so those new figures that are resolved of course – there are some outstanding appeals that haven’t been resolved yet but that new value data will be on there and what you are going to see on there as a property owner, you are going to be able to compare the different rates that they can possibly levy against you. You have the no new revenue rate, the proposed rate, the voter approval rate and then the adopted rate, of course so you are going to have three of those side by side on there and it’s going to tell you per hundred dollars of value what that looks like with your exemptions and things of that applied to it so you are going to have a real time feel of okay, if they do this rate or this rate, this is how it is going to impact my finances and property tax liability,” said Snaddon.
Not only does the website provide you with all the latest numbers but it also serves as a sounding board to better connect them with those taxing entities.
“All the public meetings that are scheduled have to be available. That information is going to be available on this website. So, you are going to see exactly as they publish these upcoming meetings, you are going to see the times, the dates, the locations. All of that information is going to be on there underneath your property search which is a great tool for them. So, they are going to know. There will not be any unknowns. A lot of times people say I didn’t know that meeting was happening or anything like that. It’s going to be available there for them, really easy to locate on that website once they do their search for their particular property. All of that information is going to be there and to your point of the sounding board, there’s going to be a feedback button that goes straight to that entity for a property owner to go ahead and click on and provide their thoughts on what they are seeing – information wise,” said Snaddon.
Snaddon says this new interactive website is officially live and can be accessed immediately by Guadalupe County taxpayers. The website is available at guadalupe.truthintaxation.com.