Perry announces appraisal reform task force

My congratulations to Tom Pauken, named by Governor Rick Perry to head the Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform, charged with making a recommendation for improving the tax appraisal process before January's session of the state legislature. On DallasBlog.com, Mr Pauken, publisher, has taken every opportunity to promote his belief that the appraisal process is broken. Now, he has a chance to shape the fix.

Let me offer Mr Pauken a few suggestions:

• Do not solve the problem by interfering with the free market. Artificially capping annual increases in appraisals would inevitably result in appraisals out of whack with selling prices and inequities between the appraised value of similar properties. Adopt such a solution and Texas will discover a few years down the road that the new system is just as broken as what it replaced.
• If you feel you must recommend a system that doesn't allow tax increases without a vote, then adjust tax rates downward rather than capping appraisal increases. If property values are rising faster than overall inflation, then automatically lower property tax rates to keep the total revenue in line with overall inflation and population growth. This removes any incentive for artificially increasing appraisals above what the market supports. Hard-working appraisal boards would be able to do their job fairly without the public assuming hikes in appraisals are a scam to raise more money. To raise more money, politicians would have to put a rate increase to the voters, giving the voters the leash on politicians that they want.
• Give appraisers the information they need to do their jobs. Make the selling prices of property a matter of public record, instead of a wild guessing game that leads to well-intentioned, but mistaken appraisals in too many cases.