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School Taxable Property Values Increase Almost 6 Percent
Texas school districts’ final taxable property values totaled $793 billion in 1999, an increase of almost 6 percent or more than $43 billion from the 1998 property value study. State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander certified the final estimate of school taxable property values – based on the appraisal date of January 1, 1999 – to Education Commissioner Jim Nelson on June 30, 2000.Property value trends
The Government Code requires the Texas Education Agency to use the Comptroller’s annual estimates of individual school district taxable wealth to determine state aid payments. The Comptroller’s findings are reported in the agency’s 1999 Final Report of School and Appraisal Districts’ Property Value Study. The Comptroller sent a copy of the final report to members of the Texas Legislature and to each school district, county appraisal district, and county tax office.
The study findings vary from the preliminary findings released in February, 2000, because school districts, appraisal districts, and certain taxpayers (with property in the study) filed appeals and corrections with the Comptroller’s Property Tax Division (PTD).
Taxable values increased in 707 school districts, with an average increase of 8 percent from 1998 to 1999. Values declined in 345 districts by an average of about 10 percent. While the state has 1,035 school districts, this total is for 1,052 districts since some school districts are appraised by more than one appraisal district. In these "split districts," the PTD counts these as separate districts for Property Value Study (PVS) purposes.ExemptionsThe final 1999 study, before exemptions, revealed almost a 9-percent increase in the value of single-family residences, slightly above the 1998 increase (about 7 percent). This category is the largest in appraised value, representing almost 44 percent of the total school district tax base. Multi-family residences values increased more than 12 percent, following an 8.5-percent increase in 1998.
Changes in business properties’ values varied, depending on the category type. Commercial real property increased more than 11 percent, compared to that same percentage increase last year. Industrial real property increased less than 1 percent, after a 4-percent increase in 1998. Industrial personal and commercial personal properties continue to increase in value. Industrial personal increased almost 2 percent (compared to 4 percent in 1998) and commercial personal rose 7 percent (compared to 4 percent in 1998).
Utilities decreased slightly from 1998 to 1999, about 1 percent, after declining one-half of one percent in value in 1998. After decreasing in value in 1998 by almost 6 percent, the 1999 values of oil, gas and minerals decreased more than 29 percent.
Category N, intangible personal and uncertified property, included miscellaneous properties listed on the local tax rolls but not certified by local appraisal review boards at reporting time. With updated information during the appeals process, Comptroller staff distributed the certified values among other property categories.
Statewide School District Taxable Values,
1998 to 1999 (in billions)Property
Category1998
Final Value1999
Final Value% Change
1998-1999A. Single-Family Residences $362.16 $394.69 8.98 B. Multi-Family Residences $37.00 $41.55 12.30 C. Vacant Lots $20.36 $21.49 5.56 D. Rural Real (Taxable) $41.81 $44.30 5.95 F1. Commercial Real $122.70 $136.86 11.54 F2. Industrial Real $56.23 $56.55 0.56 G. Oil, Gas, Minerals $35.02 $24.82 -29.14 J. Utilities $48.25 $47.80 -0.94 L1. Commercial Personal $73.46 $78.74 7.18 L2. Industrial Personal $44.55 $45.30 1.69 M. Other Personal $2.96 $3.64 22.77 N. Intangible Personal & Uncertified $2.33 $1.99 -14.40 O. Residential Inventory $1.55 $1.74 12.18 Subtotals: $848.41 $899.48 6.02 Less Total Exemptions: $99.21 $106.45 7.29 Total Taxable Value: $749.19 $793.04 5.85 NOTE: Totals may not add because numbers are rounded.
Source: Comptroller's Property Tax Division, 1999 Property Value Study
Government Code Section 403.302 specifies the exemptions and special appraisals the Comptroller’s office deducts from market value to determine the taxable value of property in school districts. The table below shows school districts’ total exemptions and abatements increased about $7 billion in 1999 from the previous year. The 7-percent increase resulted from the granting of more state-mandated homestead exemptions, an increase in the loss for the tax limit on homesteads of homeowners age 65 or older and the value cap on residence homesteads.Appraisal district findingsAs in past years, the state-mandated homestead exemptions and the taxable value loss for those homes with tax ceilings for qualified homeowners age 65 or older account for about 86 percent of the deducted amount.
Comptroller’s Estimates of School District Exemptions and Abatements Certified to Texas Education Agency 1998 Exempt Value
(in billions)1999 Exempt Value
(in billions)Homestead & Disabled Vet Exemptions $ 65.25 $ 67.42 Homestead Cap Value Loss $ 1.91 $ 3.61 Tax Limit on Over-65 Homesteads $ 21.78 $ 23.73 Abatements and Others $ 10.27 $ 11.68 Total $ 99.21 $106.45
County appraisal districts (CADs) continue to appraise property with uniform results and close to market value, according to the 1999 Final Property Value Study. Appraisal districts achieved a study result of 99 percent of market value, the same level as the previous three studies.State law requires tax appraisals to be equal, uniform and at market value. The median appraisal ratio measures how close a CAD’s typical appraisal is to market value. The coefficient of dispersion (COD) measures appraisal uniformity, whether properties are being appraised at an equal percentage of market value. The statewide COD was 11.79, the third year in a row that the COD was less than 12.
The tables show the Statewide Median Appraisal Ratios from 1989 to 1999 and the Statewide Coefficients of Dispersion for the same time period.