Many taxpayers have charged that the current property tax system is unfair because it penalizes longtime homeowners with a higher tax bill when their neighborhoods start to gentrify. One of those homeowners is City Council Member Ora Houston. During Council’s Dec. 6 work session, Houston said she lives in a house that is 50 years […]
Travis Central Appraisal District
The tax appraisal district for Travis County.
Posted inCourts
Austin loses appeal of appraisal district lawsuit
Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals on Thursday firmly rejected the city of Austin’s attempt to get a judicial ruling on whether the alleged disparity between appraisals for residential property and commercial property meets constitutional muster. Led by Mayor Steve Adler, City Council decided last year to file suit in district court against thousands of owners […]
Posted inCourts
Mueller homeowners reach agreement with TCAD
The Travis Central Appraisal District has reached an agreement with the owners of three affordable homes in the Mueller development who sued the district claiming their appraisals were too high because they were not allowed sell their homes at market value. Those homes are generally reserved for families earning 80 percent of the median family […]
Posted inAustin
2015: An Austin Monitor review
In 2015 the shift to single-member districts was finally realized, leading to big changes at City Hall. Now, almost a year later, the Austin Monitor is taking a look back at the past 12 months from our admittedly selective point of view. 10-1 takes the dais In terms of local politics, there was no bigger […]
Posted inCourts
Council affirms support for appraisal district suit
With seven members present at a special called meeting on Thursday, City Council unanimously affirmed its commitment to a lawsuit challenging the accuracy of the Travis Central Appraisal District’s appraised values for commercial properties and vacant land. In that lawsuit, the city also sought to declare certain portions of the Texas Tax Code unconstitutional. District […]
Posted inCourts
Update: City loses appraisal district lawsuit
Update: Moday, Nov. 9 After Judge Tim Sulak’s ruling dismissing the city of Austin’s lawsuit on Friday, several parties weighed in. Mayor Steve Adler said, “We need a court to rule on the fairness of the property tax system. The court’s decision today did not reach this question. That’s frustrating. The city of Austin’s challenge […]
Posted inHousing
Appraisal district, Mueller folks air differences
Some owners of affordable housing in the Mueller development have seen their homes’ appraised values double since 2013. One of those homeowners is Janeka Rector, whose home was appraised at $179,000 last year. Next year it will be appraised at more than $378,000. “The 10 percent cap (on appraisals) on my home is the only […]
Posted inCourts
Who is being sued in city’s appraisal suit?
In its lawsuit challenging the Travis Central Appraisal District’s valuations of commercial property and vacant land, the city of Austin has sued the owners of numerous tax exempt properties, including the Salvation Army, the Congress Avenue Baptist Church, the Faith United Methodist Church on South Lamar, the Austin Independent School District, the University of Texas […]
Posted inAustin
Appraisals worry some Mueller homeowners
Owners of affordable housing in the Mueller development are worried that they will no longer be able to pay the taxes on homes they bought at affordable prices – for example, $160,000 to $170,000 – because the Travis Central Appraisal District is appraising the properties at market value instead of at the affordable prices. According […]
Posted inCourts
Judge pondering appraisal district suit
After a three-hour hearing Wednesday, Travis County District Judge Tim Sulak told approximately a dozen lawyers involved in the lawsuit between the city of Austin and the Travis Central Appraisal District, “I’m nowhere close to making a decision on the merits” of the case. The city, represented by Assistant City Attorneys Andralee Lloyd and Michael […]
Posted inCourts
City, Junk Yard Dogs to fight in court today
Although the city of Austin has sued the Travis Central Appraisal District over its valuations of commercial and vacant properties, the first test of the lawsuit’s merit will come in court today not from TCAD, but from the commercial property owner Junk Yard Dogs LP. The lawyers for Junk Yard Dogs, picked perhaps for their […]
Posted inCourts
Junk Yard Dogs answers city’s TCAD lawsuit
Junk Yard Dogs LP, the owner of a commercial property at 8322 Cross Park Drive, on Monday responded to the city’s lawsuit against the Travis Central Appraisal District and all owners of commercial and vacant property in the county. The business’s response cites numerous alleged legal errors on the part of the city in filing […]