EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — As property value notices arrive in mailboxes across El Paso County, appraisal officials are urging homeowners to review them closely and file a protest if something looks wrong — even if they are not sure they will follow through.
Dina Kilgore, executive director and chief appraiser for the El Paso Central Appraisal District, said Texas law requires appraisal districts to appraise all properties in the county at 100% of market value, even though Texas is a nondisclosure state where sales prices are not always publicly available.
“So we have to look at what sales we have, what information we have,” Kilgore said. She said the appraisal district also sends questionnaires and talks to builders and developers, then uses that information to develop a “basic medium price per square foot” for different categories of homes. From there, the district considers differences that may affect an individual home’s value, “positive or negative.”
Kilgore said property owners should pay attention to their notice and deadlines. “Those notices are out in the mail,” she said.
Homeowners generally have until May 15 or 30 days from the date of their notice — whichever is later — to file a protest, Kilgore said. She encouraged people to file because there may be “extenuating circumstances” or property characteristics the district does not know about.
“We don’t go inside homes,” Kilgore said, adding that the district reviews homes every year and sends notices annually.
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Kilgore also warned that even if a homeowner does not see an increase in market value, they could see an increase in what she called the “cap value.” She said the cap value can rise 10% each year until it reaches market value, and “that’s what your taxes are based on.”
She emphasized that the appraisal district does not set tax rates. “The appraisal district has nothing to do with the tax rate, the calculations,” Kilgore said, adding that other taxing entities set rates and budgets while the appraisal district is required by statute to appraise at market value.
Countywide, Kilgore said the appraisal district saw an overall increase of about 4% this year, which she said is down compared with recent years. The district appraises the entire county and reviews more than 450,000 parcels, she said.
Before COVID, Kilgore said the county typically saw increases around 1% to 4%. After COVID, she said, market values jumped sharply, with bidding wars, homes selling overnight and less than a day’s worth of inventory for new homes.
She said the market has since stabilized, with values holding steady and inventory growing to about 3.8 to four months. Kilgore said homes are now taking three to four months or more to sell, and the county is “catching up to what would be a standard economic home prices.”
While the county average increase is about 4%, Kilgore said some homeowners could see larger increases, particularly in areas with strong sales — “mostly those are your higher end, your high dollar homes.”
For a “standard” or average home in the county, Kilgore said the appraisal district’s estimate is “about 240,000,” compared with “like 138,000” pre-COVID.
Kilgore said property values can also change because of damage to a home, and she urged homeowners to file a protest and provide documentation such as estimates and photos. She cited examples including “sheet rock that has fallen apart or ceilings that have fallen down or air conditioners that have fallen through.”
“The majority of the notices went out the first week of April,” Kilgore said, adding that notices continued going out throughout April. She said some commercial property notices were still being sent, meaning those owners may have until the end of May rather than May 15, depending on the date listed on their notice.
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