Skip to content
Quick Start for:

The Comptroller's Property Tax Division (PTD) mailed 1999 property value reports to county appraisal districts (CADs) and taxing units in September. The division uses the information from these "self" reports to perform the property value study used for school funding purposes and for appraisal district performance reports. PTD also includes the information in the Comptroller's annual report on property taxes.
Reporting changes
PTD's reporting staff edited last year's property value reports and procedures for minor changes. Some of the changes to the 1999 Reports of Property Value include:

  • The school, county, and city reports of property value changed to request only the taxes deferred by homeowners by state law, rather than asking for both the amount of taxes and value associated with the taxes. Homeowners age 65 or older may defer or abate delinquent taxes on their homesteads. Homeowners whose appraised values increase more than 5 percent above the preceding year may defer the taxes on the value above the 5-percent increase.

  • The school and appraisal district reports include a field to total the column of agricultural land classifications for the number of acres, market values, and productivity values.

  • The county report includes a field to report the total value loss to local over-65 or disabled homestead exemptions for the Farm-to-Market/Flood Control (FMFC) tax. In past years, this information was requested only for the county's general fund.
Long and short forms
PTD reminds CADs and taxing units about the long and short reports of property value. Taxing units in CADs that successfully participate in the Electronic Data Submissions (EDS) are exempt from completing the long form. These units are required to complete only the short form. Taxing units in those CADs whose EDS test submission was accepted as of September 1 will only receive short forms to complete. Taxing units whose CADs did not participate in filing data electronically complete the long forms.

PTD also asks all counties to complete the 1999 County Indigent Health Care information report. Appraisal districts must complete the over-65 "freeze" form for all school districts to report the value loss for homesteads of over-65 taxpayers and qualified over-55 surviving spouses.

Division staff are available to answer questions about the EDS process. CADs or vendors with taxing unit specific questions should call Annette Scott, Reporting Section, toll free at 1-800-252-9121, extension 5-9820.

PTD requests comments
PTD is attentive to suggestions on how to make the reporting process as efficient as possible. Comments and recommendations are appreciated, and PTD will consider incorporating them into the process.

PTD also has found that the following items improve the overall reporting process.

  1. Taxing units or their CADs must include a copy of the recapitulation pages (commonly called "appraisal roll recaps") that units receive from their CADs and are used to complete the units' filed reports as well as EDS tape submissions. The more information that CADs and taxing units supply with their reports, the more it enhances the accuracy of PTD's estimates. Detailed information on agricultural land, property categories, exemptions, and any tax abatement or tax increment financing (TIF) agreements are extremely valuable to PTD when reviewing reports.

  2. Taxing units should avoid leaving any items blank when completing the long report form. PTD staff cannot review the reports until all the requested information is entered. If there are questions about a particular entry, call the Reporting Section at the toll-free number listed below.

  3. Cities with a population of 2,500 or less only need to report information on taxable value, levy, adopted tax rate, and the amount of any optional percentage homestead exemption.
1999 reporting deadlines
The deadlines to submit final EDS tapes or completed paper reports are as follows:

October 1, 1999 -- Deadline for all paper reports from those taxing units in CADs with less than 50,000 parcels. Or, the PTD receives an electronic submission of certified appraisal rolls from these CADs, if their test tapes were accepted. If a test tape was not accepted, the CAD must submit all paper reports on this date.

October 18, 1999 -- Deadline for all paper reports from those taxing units in CADs with 50,000 but less than 150,000 parcels. Or, the PTD receives an electronic submission of certified appraisal rolls from these CADs, if their test tapes were accepted. If a test tape was not accepted, the CAD must submit all paper reports on this date.

November 1, 1999 -- Deadline for all paper reports from taxing units in CADs with 150,000 or more parcels. Or, the PTD receives an electronic submission of certified appraisal rolls from these CADs, if their test tapes were accepted. If a test tape was not accepted, the CAD must submit all paper reports on this date.

November 15, 1999 -- Deadline for all supplemental value reports, whether sent by paper or electronic submission.

Please send the completed reports, tapes, or any suggestions on improving the reporting process to the State Comptroller's Property Tax Division, Attention: Reporting Section, Post Office Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528, or by calling 1-800-252-9121. In Austin, call 305-9999.

Contributing to this article: Annette Scott