Want a surefire way to bond with someone waiting in line at the grocery store or standing next to you in the dog park? In Austin, try griping about property taxes.
Because appraisal numbers are based on the market, they fluctuate. When the sales price of homes in Austin skyrocketed during the pandemic, so did appraisals. Now that housing costs are dropping, appraisals have followed.Let’s consider the plight of one anonymous homeowner in Central Austin. This year, the appraisal district estimated this house would have sold for nearly $577,000, down 10% from last year.Look now at the “Net Appraised” column. That number goes up 10% year over year, a limitation approved by voters in 1997. The taxable value, or the amount a property owner is taxed on, is either the “Appraised” or “Net Appraised” number, whichever is lower.
In the case of city taxes, the City of Austin will tax this homeowner on roughly $299,000, rather than that much larger “Net Appraised” number.