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The story provides insight into the appraisal process, how this is impacted by the legislature as well as court decisions, and the internal disputes between county organizations.
Some detail:
Officials said HCAD's Appraisal Review Board in recent years has agreed to set values for commercial and industrial properties that are far below what those properties later sell for, suggesting the independently governed agency did not adequately fight property owners who challenged their appraisals in court.
Commissioners Court on Wednesday took the unprecedented step of agreeing to hire independent appraisers to double-check HCAD's valuations of business properties. Court members said they would take the appraisal district to court, if necessary, but suggested their action was meant more as a warning to the agency or the Texas Legislature.
Large scale property owners have the ability to successfully challenge property appraisals, and recent changes have made that easier to do:
Radack and others cited Greenway Plaza, which sold last year for nearly $200 million more than its appraisal value, set shortly before in a courtroom settlement.
Counties statewide have, in some cases, watched their tax bases shrink by hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years as big businesses take advantage of a controversial a 1997 amendment to the tax code - a provision HCAD publicly has opposed - that was intended to make sure homeowners were treated fairly.
Lawsuits have flooded the courts since the Texas 14th Court of Appeals ruled in 2005 that tax consultants testifying for property owners did not need to use approved methods for determining value; the judge only has to believe that the testimony is reasonable.
More than 2,700 such cases involving commercial or industrial properties are pending against HCAD.
The county has hired independent appraisers to double check the HCAD numbers, but HCAD says nothing is wrong and undervaluation is due mostly to the volatile real estate market.
