Cathy Singleton, Chief Appraiser
The Hopkins County Appraisal District will be mailing out 2016 appraisal notices on May 2, 2016. As in the past several years, notices will only be mailed to new property owners, property owner’s whose value has increased by $1,000 or more, or those who have requested to receive an appraisal notice.
Due to prevailing market conditions, appraised values throughout Hopkins County will be increasing for the 2016 appraisal year. Increases vary for different types of property.
Appraisal Districts are required by Texas Property Tax Code, Sec. 1.04 (7) to appraise property at the price at which the property would transfer to cash or its equivalent on the open market. Appraisal Districts are audited by the State Comptroller’s office using the last two years of confirmed sales to make sure that appraised values are staying in line with fair market values of local properties. If an Appraisal District does not keep up with or follow the prevailing market values, the district fails the audit and is given a two year “grace period” to correct property values before the local school districts state funding in affected. Hopkins County Appraisal District has increased appraised values in the last two years in an attempt to keep up with local market values and satisfy the State Comptroller’s property value study. Due to our local market condition appreciating so rapidly, our office has been unable to increase property valuations enough to satisfy the state’s study in the last two years for Sulphur Springs ISD. This is the last year of “grace period” to bring values to a level to reflect the current market values so that Sulphur springs ISD does not lose any state funding.
Tax office personnel said, “The value increases throughout Hopkins County are not an attempt to increase tax revenue. Increasing the appraised values to reflect the prevailing market values is the requirement set by the law of the Texas Property Tax Code that our office must abide by. If you have recently purchased property in Hopkins County within the last two years, you have established the market value of the property. A surprising number of informal protests come from those who have purchased property during that time period.”
Those with questions concerning the appraisal increase, exemptions, sales information, or other appraisal information, are asked to contact the Hopkins County Appraisal District Office between May 2nd and May 31st. You do not have to receive an appraisal notice to inquire about appraisal information or to file a protest. The Texas Property Tax Code only provides a 30 day time period for this process. All property owners will speak informally with a district representative. Examine your notice carefully. If an agreement cannot be made, you may file a formal protest to be heard in a formal hearing with the Appraisal Review board. The deadline will be May 31st, or the date on your appraisal notice. Requests for informal or formal protests after the deadline cannot be accepted by the Appraisal District.
