Who in Amarillo Received a Surprise in Their Appraisal Value Letter?

If you own a home you probably got a dreaded letter in the mail in the past few days. If not it is coming. Don't you worry. It will be there. I am talking about your 2022 Notice of Appraised Value letter.

I will be the first to say I have not seen one happy person about their home's value. Everyone's has gone up. Oh and not just a little either. I have seen some friends on Facebook say that theirs have gone up $50,000.

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If you are looking to sell your home right now this is good news. I mean you can probably get a lot more during the sale. If you are not looking to sell that is the downfall. More than likely your taxes will be going up.

When I got mine in yesterday the value of my home went up by $30,381. So ok, not as bad as others. When I told my daughter she was happy for me. Oh until I told her what that meant.

So what are your options? Go for the ride and accept the higher values. In hopes that they don't go up much more for the unforeseeable future. Or do you protest?

I am not going to protest. Why? Because to be honest I got my home for a very good price. I know it was undervalued then. So I am finally starting to pay the taxman I guess.

I have protested before. Oh, and let me tell you the good news. I won. That was when I owned a home in Wolflin. They went up crazy one year too. Luckily I had just had my home appraised because I was refinancing.

It worked in my favor.

What Do You Need to Do to Protest?

First, you need to fill out the form that they provided you. Or you can go online HERE to appeal online. You will end up with a hearing scheduled. Oh but make sure you file your protest by May 23rd. Hearings will start on the June 6th.

I Have Filed My Protest, Now What?

You need to make sure you have evidence. If you can get an appraiser out, great. Hopefully, they can come up with the same conclusion. If not I would take plenty of photos.

Show that your foundation is jacked up. Take photos of that door off the hinge. Or maybe your dogs have torn up your backyard. These are all things you probably have on your list to fix. Right now use it to your advantage.

Oh and make sure you have filed Homestead on your home if you have not already. Homestead is your friend. The value of my home went up 35% over the past five years. The letter they sent said that.

The letter also says:

The exemption amounts shown on this notice are those provided by law at the date of this notice. If Texas voters approve the proposed constitutional amendment to increase the general residence homestead exemption for school taxes from $25,000 to $40,000, your exemption amount will automatically increase, and school districts will compute your taxes using the greater exemption amount.

It's in small print. But it is there. That means that the first $40,000 value of your home will not be taxed by the school district. If it is passed. Right now the first $25,000 is not.

Also know that if you filed a homestead exemption, your valuation increase is capped at 10%. If you did not, and are eligible, do so now. If you live in the home it should have claimed the Homestead Exemption. If you haven't taken care of that detail do it now.