San Antonio Property Taxes Going Up in 2016
San Antonio property taxes going up in 2016 for most residential property owners. Bexar County Appraisal District released the estimated tax bill information to property owners over the past few days. Lots of negative reaction in news reports about how citizens are feeling about the additional money
that will need be paid for the tax increase. See "Are San Antonio Property Taxes Outrageous?"
I think some of the terminology used by the Appraisal District contributes to citizen's negative reactions. For a residential property, the building or home is listed as an "improvement". Land without a structure is unimproved, so with this framework, a simple shed on a piece of land is an improvement.
The tax bill comes out with the phrase "Improvement Homesite Value". The response many homeowners have is they've done no improvement to the home since the last tax bill came out so why are their taxes more this year?
When it comes to property taxes, Texas is a state with the some of highest property taxes. See chart, below.
Chart Source: "Comparing the Real Cost of Owning Property Across the United States", CoreLogic's Insights Blog (April 27, 2016)
Texas is in the category or states with highest property taxes but it is also the only state in the "Above 2%" category without a state income tax.
The value of property being taxed is based on many factors. Examples include property values, budget needs of the taxing units-city, county, school district, etc. In a growing metro area like San Antonio, it's hard to imagine a situation where property taxes will decrease much, if at all. The requirements for funding security, fire protection, public hospitals, public education, local roads, infrastructure, and many other things voters deem important are not decreasing. Unless the demand for government services is decreased property taxes will continue to rise.
There is an appeal process for property owners who choose to challenge the appraisal for their property. A number of people exercise their right to challenge. I read the number of appeals last year was over 60,000. I don't think they publish the results of those challenges.
San Antonio property taxes going up in 2016.
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