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1998 School Property Value Study Showed Almost 6 Percent Increase

Texas school districts' final taxable property values totaled $749.2 billion in 1998, up 5.7 percent or more than $40 billion from the 1997 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, 1998 -- to Education Commissioner Mike Moses on June 30, 1999.

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 1998 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, 1999, 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).

Property value trends
Taxable values increased in about 74 percent -- 782 -- of the school districts, with an average increase of 7.5 percent from 1997 to 1998. Values declined in 271 districts by an average of about 5.4 percent.

The final 1998 study, before exemptions, revealed a 7-percent increase in the value of single-family residences, slightly above the 1997 increase (6 percent). This category is the largest in appraised value, representing almost 43 percent of the total school district tax base. Multi-family residences values increased 8.5 percent, following an 8-percent increase in 1997.

Education graph

Changes in business properties' values varied, depending on the category type. Commercial real property increased more than 11 percent, compared to an 8-percent increase last year. Industrial real property increased almost 4 percent, after a 1-percent increase in 1997. Industrial personal and commercial personal properties continue to increase in value. Industrial personal increased almost 4 percent (compared to 6 percent in 1997) and commercial personal rose 4 percent (compared to almost 7 percent in 1997).

Utilities decreased slightly from 1997 to 1998, about one-half of one percent in value, after rising about that same percentage in 1997. After increasing in value in 1997 by 23 percent, the 1998 values of oil, gas and minerals decreased by almost 6 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, 1997 vs. 1998
(in billions)
  Property
Category		 1997 Final
Value 		1998 Final
Value 		Percent Change
1997 - 1998
A. Single-family $338.33 $362.16 7.0 %
B. Multi-family $ 34.09 $ 37.00 8.5 %
C. Vacant Lots $ 19.78 $ 20.36 2.9 %
D. Rural Real (Taxable) $ 39.72 $ 41.81 5.3 %
F1. Commercial Real $110.33 $122.70 11.2 %
F2. Industrial Real $ 54.22 $ 56.23 3.7 %
G. Oil, Gas & Minerals $ 37.09 $ 35.02 - 5.6 %
J. Utilities $ 48.52 $ 48.25 - 0.6 %
L1. Commercial Personal $ 70.64 $ 73.46 4.0 %
L2. Industrial Personal $ 43.01 $ 44.55 3.6 %
M. Other Personal $ 2.49 $ 2.96 18.9 %
N. Intangible Personal & Uncertified * $ 1.17 $ 2.33 99.1 %
O. Residential Inventory $ 1.38 $ 1.55 12.3 %
  Subtotals: $ 800.77 $848.41 5.9 %
  (Less Exemptions) - $ 91.85 - $ 99.21 8.0 %
  Taxable Value Certified $ 709.92 $ 749.20 5.7 %

* Not a valid comparison because values were not certified by local appraisal review boards at reporting time.

Totals may not add because numbers are rounded.
Source: Comptroller's Property Tax Division, 1998 Property Value Study

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 $7.4 billion in 1998 from the previous year. The 8-percent increase resulted from the granting of more state-mandated homestead exemptions and an increase in the loss for the tax limit on homesteads of homeowners age 65 or older.

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 account for about 87 percent of the deducted amount. Comptroller's Estimates of School District Exemptions
and Abatements Certified to Texas Education Agency   1997 Exempt Value 1998 Exempt Value State Homestead Exemption $ 61,933,767,993 $ 64,223,094,880 Disabled Veteran's Exemption $ 981,373,207 $ 1,027,075,175 Tax Limit on Over-65 Homesteads $ 18, 655,179,834 $ 21,782,571,702 Abatements and Others $ 10,280,092,914 $ 9,992,652,126 Total $ 91,850,403,948 $ 99,210,556,957

Appraisal district findings
County appraisal districts (CADs) continue to appraise property with uniform results and close to market value, according to the 1998 Final Property Value Study. Appraisal districts achieved a study result of 99 percent of market value, the same level as the previous two 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 tables on the following pages show the statewide median appraisal ratios from 1985 to 1998 and the statewide coefficients of dispersion for the same time period.