Long lines at appraisal district

DallasBlog.com | Tom Pauken:

“Those seeking to challenge the appraised values on their property have only a few days left to do so. ... If today is any indication, a lot of Dallas County property owners were at the Appraisal District office disputing their appraised values for 2006. ”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Instead of the anecdotal evidence offered by Mr Pauken, we need a systematic study. And for that, we need sales price data, which is not public information in the state of Texas. In fact, the information is not available to even government appraisal boards, unless it is voluntarily offered by homeowners. So, instead of whining about "unelected" appraisal boards "jacking-up" appraisals for "no discernable reason", Mr Pauken ought to be lobbying to get the appraisal boards the information they need to set accurate appraisals.

Until then, we're left with anecdotal horror stories. And for every victimized homeowner that Mr Pauken cites, there's another story of a wealthy homeowner or a commercial real estate owner taking advantage of the current system. For example, there's the office tower at 300 W. Sixth St. in Austin, whose owner complained when its appraised value increased 40 percent to $65 million, only to turn around and sell it a short time later for $131 million.