Homeowners in Dallas County’s Wylie, Willmar and Lewisville counties, as well as those who pay taxes to the Dallas Independent School District, were some of the people hit hardest by soaring market values this year, according to preliminary data released last week by the Dallas Central Appraisal District.
Dallas County homeowners, and many others across North Texas hoping for tax relief, have until Wednesday to protest their assessments by their local appraisal districts.
Countywide, home market values are up 15.56% from last year, outpacing the 12.67% increase in home market values reported by DCAD for 2022 to 2023. When appraisal notices were issued last month, some properties saw their market values increase by as much as 60%.
Deputy Chief Appraiser Cheryl Jordan said the figures reflect rapid growth in the North Texas housing market.
“There are a lot more people looking to buy a home than there are now,” she says. “Interest rates went up a few years ago and the market slowed down, but home prices didn’t fall.”
Learn more | The Denton Appraisal District expects 100,000 property owners to challenge their assessments by the deadline.
Market value doesn’t necessarily directly increase a homeowner’s property tax bill. The state’s residential exemption system limits increases in a homeowner’s assessed value to 10 percent per year. Texas voters also approved a $100,000 residential exemption from school district taxes, up from $40,000 last year. Veterans, disabled homeowners and seniors over 65 also qualify for certain exemptions.
If homeowners are still unhappy, there is an appeals process for them, Jordan said.
“But we also ask people to put in a little effort, a little homework,” she said. “Why do you think our values are wrong? You can’t just say, ‘I think they’re wrong.’ You have to have the facts to back you up.”
As of last Friday, DCAD had received 67,451 housing protests, she said. By the same time last year, the district had received more than 82,412 housing protests.
Elaine Mook, who lives in the White Rock Lake neighborhood, said she does thorough research each year before the protests, including comparing the value of her home with that of her neighbors and other area residents, but she still finds the process frustrating. She’s listened to appraisal hearings by phone for friends, and she feels there’s an inconsistent approach to appraisals.
“It really depends on who you talk to,” she says. “Some people will say it doesn’t matter how many bathrooms or bedrooms you have, it’s all about the square footage. Another person will say, ‘Oh, it matters if there’s another bathroom.'”
Mook’s market value has increased 20.9 percent since last year, and the land included in the total market value is more than eight times more valuable than when she and her husband first moved into the house in 2005.
She said she felt that was unfair when compared to other homes in the area that were just as desirable.
“We need a place to live,” Mook said. “We moved here because we love the area. We don’t want to be forced to move. If we’re going to move, we want it to be our choice.”
Torwani Osibamowo
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Kera
Toler, a family business, is holding free workshops at the Wesley Rankin Community Center, primarily targeting low-income homeowners who don’t have much experience challenging property values. Tax consultant Will Toler said the company expects to serve about 1,000 clients by the end of May.
About half of the workshop’s customers, mostly from communities south of Interstate 30, inherited homes from their grandparents or parents and are much less likely to protest.
“In these cases, it’s been a family home for 60, 70, 80 years,” Toler said, “and they’ve never challenged the property taxes. They’ve never filed a homeownership application. They just paid the taxes and moved in.”
The plight is exacerbated for residents in areas like West Dallas, where market values and gentrification are occurring most rapidly. Toller helped write an appeals report for one man’s home just south of the Trinity River, where the market value in 2024 will be more than five times what it was in 2019, despite ceilings and other aspects being in various states of disrepair.
“It’s not as simple as just filling out a form and submitting it,” he says. “You need clarification on your paperwork. You need amendments to your title deeds. You need help to qualify. That help could be the difference between keeping your home or losing it.”
Collin and Denton counties also have a protest deadline of May 15. The Tarrant Appraisal District extended its county protest deadline to May 24.
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