08/26/2016 HCAD Certifies Appraisal Roll

Harris County Appraisal District News Release

For additional information contact Jack Barnett, Communications Officer, 713-957-5663

August 26, 2016
Harris County Appraisal District Certifies Appraisal Roll
Houston — Roland Altinger, chief appraiser of the Harris County Appraisal District
(HCAD), certified the 2016 appraisal roll.
The importance of certifying the appraisal roll listing the property values is that state
law allows those jurisdictions in Harris County to move forward with the process of
adopting 2016 tax rates.

“Certification is the final step in the 2016 appraisal process for most of our tax base.
The appraisal roll provides taxing jurisdictions with the value of the properties completed
to date. We also give the taxing units estimates of the value and number of accounts not
yet complete so they have as much information as possible when they start their rate
adoption process,” Altinger said.

After certification, the rolls with the value are provided to the county, cities, school
districts and other taxing entities so the governing bodies of the taxing units can set their
tax rates for the upcoming year.
The total taxable value for property in Harris County has increased 7.6 percent to $421
billion, compared with $391.2 billion in 2015. Taxable value is the value after exemptions
have been deducted.

Residential properties, which are single family homes, made up 41 percent of the
county’s tax base, apartments were about 8 percent and commercial properties other than
apartments made up approximately 26 percent. The total taxable value of residential
properties increased 10 percent, compared with 2015, the taxable value of apartments
increased 16 percent and commercial properties increased 13 percent. These numbers
include new construction and the reappraisal of existing property.

There were approximately 8,000 fewer protests filed this year because property values
did not increase as much due to a slowing economy. The number of protests fell to
354,817 from last year’s 362,878. To date 252,258 of those protested accounts have been
resolved totaling $280 billion.

“Only 3.48 percent of the total appraised value in the district remained under protest
when the Appraisal Review Board handed over the appraisal records to me,” Altinger said.
“This was a record for the appraisal district.”
As the remaining protests are resolved, the accounts will be added to the supplemental
roll that is provided to the taxing units.

About HCAD
The Harris County Appraisal District is a political subdivision of the State of Texas
established in 1980 for the purpose of discovering and appraising property for ad valorem
tax purposes for each taxing unit within the boundaries of the district. The district has
more than 1.7 million parcels of property to assess each year with a total market value of
approximately $556 billion. The appraisal district in Harris County is the largest in Texas,
serving approximately 500 taxing units, and one of the largest appraisal districts in the
United States. For further information, visit www.hcad.org.