SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Kilgore’s Emiley Brown got her appraisal in the mail last week.
“I was shocked because it was $60,000 higher than it was last year, " Brown said.
Her 2,600 square foot home jumped in value.
“It's crazy," Brown said. "I called and talked to an appraiser at the Gregg County appraisal district today and he told me that he has 1,500 protests in front of him to go through.”
Smith County’s appraisal office is swamped too. Chief appraiser Carol Dixon said her phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
“Property owners are saying, ‘Hey, how did you guys, you know, arrive at this value?’” Dixon said.
She also said there’s a lot that goes into your appraisal including neighborhood sales, property trends and any changes you’ve made to your home. They’re required to appraise at 100% market value in a market that’s busting at the seams.
“So for the seller, of course, they want to take advantage, right? Everybody likes money. And if everybody hears ‘houses are going for 30, 40,000 more you should sell,’ they're gonna sell,'” Brown said.
There are some options for homeowners. For the next three weeks, homeowners with recent appraisals or any documents that prove why their property value should be lower than how it was appraised should bring it in to their appraisal district.
If there’s nothing they can do for you, you can also protest to the appraisal review board. Fill out the protest form on the back of your notice or online at your appraisal district's website.
East Texans may have also wondered how these appraisals will affect their taxes.
Smith county tax assessor collector Gary Barber said contact your appraisal district now because once the appraisals reach his desk as the tax office, it's too late to dispute them. He said homeowners want to get this done within a month of getting their notice.
In the same appraisal vein, Barber wants every property owner to take advantage of homestead exemptions. These are essentially tax breaks for homeowners. They're usually 25,000 dollars in school taxes but this year an even bigger break is on the ballot. If passed, the break would increase to 40,000 dollars.
"If you want to lower your taxes on your house, you will support that. And seniors or disabled people get an additional 10,000 on top of that," Barber said.
Homeowners in Texas can only claim one homestead exemption. Barber said if more than one comes to light, the homeowner could owe back taxes.
The deadline to apply for a homestead exemption is April 30.
Homeowners who purchased their property after January 1, 2022 no longer have to wait until next January to apply for a homestead exemption. Dixon said you can apply the same day you moved in.