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2000 Final Property Value Study


School Taxable Property Values Increase 9 Percent

Texas school districts’ final taxable property values totaled $864 billion in 2000, an increase of 9 percent or more than $71 billion from the 1999 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, 2000 — to Education Commissioner Jim Nelson on June 29, 2001.

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 2000 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, 2001, 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).

Statewide School District Taxable Values
1999 to 2000 (in billions)

Property Category 1999
Final Value 		2000
Final Value 		% Change
1999-2000
A. Single-Family Residences $394.69 $444.73 12.68%
B. Multi-Family Residences $41.55 $46.18 11.13%
C. Vacant Lots $21.49 $22.91 6.59%
D. Rural Real (Taxable) $44.30 $46.05 3.96%
F1. Commercial Real $136.86 $152.17 11.19%
F2. Industrial Real $56.55 $62.37 10.30%
G. Oil, Gas, Minerals $24.82 $28.28 13.97%
J. Utilities $47.80 $40.64 -14.97%
L1. Commercial Personal $78.74 $79.37 0.79%
L2. Industrial Personal $45.30 $49.45 9.16%
M. Other Personal $3.64 $4.41 21.35%
N. Intangible Personal & Uncertified $1.99 $3.41 70.85%
O. Residential Inventory $1.74 $2.14 22.88%
S. Special Inventory N/A $2.53 N/A
  Subtotals $899.48 $984.65 9.47%
  Less Total Exemptions $106.45 $120.39 13.10%
  Total Taxable Value $793.04 $864.26 8.98%
NOTE: Totals may not add because numbers are rounded.
Source: Comptroller's Property Tax Division, 2000 Property Value Study.

Property Value Trends

Taxable values increased in 874 school districts, with an average increase of almost 11 percent from 1999 to 2000. Values declined in 178 districts by an average of about 6 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.

The final 2000 study, before exemptions, revealed almost a 13-percent increase in the value of single-family residences, exceeding the 1999 increase of 9 percent. This category is the largest in appraised value, representing almost 45 percent of the total school district tax base. Multi-family residences values increased more than 11 percent, following a 12-percent increase in 1999.

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 10 percent, after a less than 1-percent increase in 1999.

Industrial personal and commercial personal properties continue to increase in value. Industrial personal increased 9 percent (compared to 2 percent in 1999) and commercial personal rose less than 1 percent (compared to 7 percent in 1999).

Utilities decreased almost 15 percent from 1999 to 2000, after declining about one percent in value in 1999. Part of this decrease was reclassifying electric generation from utilities to the industrial category.

Oil, gas, and minerals rebounded with an increase of almost 14 percent, after the 1999 values of oil, gas, and minerals decreased more than 29 percent.

Residential inventory, residential property held for sale by the developer, increased almost 23 percent from the 1999 study. A new category, Category S for special inventory, includes the inventory value of motor vehicle, boat, heavy equipment, and manufactured housing dealers required to file special reports with CADs and county tax offices. The total value of special inventory was $2.53 billion.

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.

Exemptions

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 $14 billion in 2000 from the previous year. The 13-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 an increase in residence homesteads with the value cap. Other exemptions with increasing amounts exempted were for tax increment financing, freeport property, and pollution control.

As 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 and with value caps account for about 87 percent of the deducted amount.

Comptroller’s Estimates of School District Exemptions
and Abatements Certified to Texas Education Agency

  1999
Exempt Value
(in billions) 		2000
Exempt Value
(in billions)
Homestead & Disabled Vet Exemptions $67.42 $69.89
Homestead Cap Value Loss $3.61 $9.54
Tax Limit on Over-65 Homesteads $23.73 $26.59
Abatements and Others $11.68 $14.36
Total $106.45 $120.39
Source: Comptroller's Property Tax Division.

Appraisal District Findings

County appraisal districts (CADs) continue to appraise property with uniform results and close to market value, according to the 2000 Final Property Value Study. CADs achieved a study result of 99 percent of market value, the same level as the previous four 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 11.53, the fourth year in a row that the COD was less than 12.

Statewide Median Appraisal Ratios, 1990 to 2000 Property Value Studies

The table below compares the statewide median appraisal ratios from the 1990 to 2000 Property Value Studies. The statewide median appraisal ratio for an individual property category was calculated using the appraisal ratios of all Property Tax Division sample properties in that category from across the state. The overall statewide median appraisal ratio was calculated using the appraisal ratios for all sample properties.

  Property Category 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
A. Single-family Residential 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.97 0.97 0.98 0.98 0.98
B. Multifamily Residential 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.98 0.99 0.98 0.98
C. Vacant Lots 0.98 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
D. Acreage (market value) .98* .99* 1.00* 1.00* 1.00* 1.00* .99* .98* .98* 0.98* .98*
E. Farm & Ranch Improvements * * * * * * * * * * *
F1. Commercial Real 0.97 0.98 0.99 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.98 0.97
F2. Industrial Real ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
G. Oil, Gas & Minerals 1.02 1.03 1.02 1.04 1.03 1.02 1.02 1.01 1.00 1.02 1.03
J. Utilities 1.04 1.06 1.02 1.00 1.01 1.02 0.99 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
L1. Commercial Personal 0.96 0.97 0.98 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
L2. Industrial Personal ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
M. Other Personal 0.99 1.06 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
O. Residential Inventory 1.00 1.03 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
  OVERALL 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 1.00 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99
* Beginning in 1989, taxable values for Farm & Ranch Improvements (formerly Category E) were merged into Category D with Acreage (market value).

** Two few sample observations were available to produce meaningful statewide coefficients of disperson for these properties.


Statewide Coefficients of Dispersion, 1990 to 2000 Property Value Studies

The table below compares the statewide coefficients of dispersion from the 1990 to 2000 Property Value Studies. The statewide coefficient of dispersion for an individual property category was calculated using the appraisal ratios of all Property Tax Division sample properties in that category from across the state. The overall statewide coefficient of dispersion was calculated using the appraisal ratios for all sample properties.

  Property Category 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
A. Single-family Residential 13.84 14.11 13.12 12.93 10.74 12.11 11.36 11.06 9.68 9.23 10.05
B. Multifamily Residential 11.73 13.27 10.84 12.66 8.38 10.06 8.43 7.71 7.34 7.63 7.70
C. Vacant Lots 21.57 23.16 22.66 22.01 19.27 18.21 19.86 17.10 15.17 13.68 14.79
D. Acreage (market value) 16.90* 15.98* 15.50* 16.31* 18.49* 14.92* 14.60* 15.62* 16.09* 14.51* 14.96*
E. Farm & Ranch Improvements * * * * * * * * * * *
F1. Commercial Real 16.54 15.58 15.80 14.38 12.59 13.28 11.34 11.01 10.51 10.59 10.56
F2. Industrial Real ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
G. Oil, Gas & Minerals 11.00 12.94 9.41 11.20 13.01 12.61 18.95 4.85 7.38 20.52 7.15
J. Utilities 20.50 20.38 17.28 14.18 14.35 12.50 12.40 10.76 9.64 12.78 12.26
L1. Commercial Personal 18.09 17.54 16.36 10.83 8.14 11.95 20.73 11.20 9.24 7.52 8.19
L2. Industrial Personal ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
M. Other Personal 14.59 17.19 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
O. Residential Inventory 14.51 13.84 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
  OVERALL 16.73 16.18 14.58 13.97 12.86 13.17 13.47 11.64 10.86 11.79 11.53
* Beginning in 1989, taxable values for Farm & Ranch Improvements (formerly Category E) were merged into Category D with Acreage (market value).

** Two few sample observations were available to produce meaningful statewide coefficients of disperson for these properties.