Videos
Summary
Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger talks about the challenges of appraising property in Harris County. The sheer scope and complexity of a local economy that totals approximately one-fifth of the entire state's property value is staggering. The district's area covers 1,700 square miles, includes almost 2 million parcels of property, and is home to over 4.7 million people who live here. The better communication between property owners and the appraisal district, the better job HCAD is able to do. (3:16 mins.)
The Challenge of Appraisals
In good economic times and bad, Harris County is a significant economy all by itself. It is the largest economy in Texas, and one of the largest in the United States.
Hello, I’m Roland Altinger, Chief Appraiser of the Harris Central Appraisal District. Harris County’s total market value of taxable property is steadily approaching one-trillion dollars, or about 1/5th of the total property value in the state of Texas. The scope and complexity of the property is unlike any county in Texas, and few in the country. Your home or business is one piece in a property appraisal jigsaw puzzle that has almost 2-million pieces. It is affected by hundreds of pages of property tax laws, additional regulations, and court cases that determine what the government can tell you that your property is worth for tax purposes.
Harris County covers more than 1,700 square miles with almost five-million residents. Within the county, there are over 500 government jurisdictions that levy property taxes.
Consider:
- There are 5 countywide agencies including the county itself
- 33 cities
- 26 school districts
- 4 community colleges
- Hundreds of municipal utility districts and special taxing units
We have over 1.3-million homes in Harris County. The county itself is so large and diverse that there are multiple markets for homes. The Harris Central Appraisal District has created over 7,000 valuation neighborhoods to help us accurately track these markets.
We have thousands of apartment complexes and condominiums, ranging from new construction to units that are over 50 years old. There are hundreds of office buildings and complexes; thousands of neighborhood strip shopping centers; small businesses, medical centers and support offices, two major airports, five refineries, and one of the nation’s busiest ports. The descriptions can go on for a long time.
Take a drive anywhere throughout Harris County, and everywhere you look, you’re seeing properties that must be valued by the appraisal district. Under the Texas Constitution and state law, our job is to determine the fair market value of all that property as of January 1st every year. The purpose of our appraisal is to allocate the tax burden among property owners on the basis of what the property is worth. Actual taxes are determined when the governing bodies of each local jurisdiction adopts their budget and sets tax rates for the year.
Harris County is a big place. This is a big job. But the more we communicate, the better job we can do. Thanks for watching.