Texas homeowners are shocked as appraised home values skyrocket. But experts say, don’t panic.

“It goes up every year, but this is the biggest — and I’m sure I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” said Martha Valiquette, a realtor from San Antonio whose home value increased by $110,000 this year. She’s already protested the estimate and is now helping others do the same.

HOUSTON HOW TO: Protesting your home’s appraisal value can lower your property taxes. How to protest in the Houston area.

Home values are used to calculate state property taxes, and Texans will likely face bigger tax bills later this year. In Houston, the average price of a single-family home climbed to $400,000 for the first time, and in San Antonio, median home sales have surpassed $300,000.

“Asking prices for homes are increasing beyond anything you have likely ever seen,” the Bexar Appraisal District officials said in a statement this week. “Fewer properties offered for sale and high demand for housing means price increases that shatter records.”

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Texas already has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, relying heavily on that revenue because the state does not tax income. Only six states — Wisconsin, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Illinois and New Jersey — have higher property tax rates, according to the personal finance website WalletHub.

But, experts say, it’s not over until it’s over. Appraised home values are just the first steps before property taxes are calculated, and homeowners have the opportunity to protest their quotes.

All Texans should remember that their actual property tax bill is based on two factors, said Dick Lavine, a senior fiscal analyst at the nonprofit Every Texan. The first is the taxable value of the home, which is based on the appraisal and can be adjusted via protest and various exemptions. The second is the tax rate set by local governments and other taxing units.

“Just because your value goes up, you still do not know what your tax bill is going to do until the whole process is finished,” Lavine said.

In the immediate future, homeowners should “get a plan” and protest their appraised value if they have a case, said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has championed several property tax relief measures in recent years.

Most big counties have an online appeals system, where residents can upload evidence that their appraised value doesn’t match what they were quoted. That could include recent home sales in the area that fall below the value, for example, or estimated costs to repair damage to the home.

If you’re lost, ask a realtor or consult your local appraisal district for help.

“We have gone through similar boom cycles in Texas as far back as the as far back really as the 1980s,” Bettencourt said. “Things can get spectacularly hot, like they are now, but it will cool off. The key thing is take action this year. Do not let these higher values submit if you know for sure that you’re overvalued.”

There is a silver lining, Bettencourt said: As home values hit record levels, tax rates will come down. The state Legislature approved an overhaul of property tax policies in 2019, slowing tax increases in the years following but not completely eliminating them.

Plus, most homeowners are eligible for a homestead exemption, which offers a $25,000 break on school property taxes. Texas law also caps year-over-year increases to a homestead’s taxable value at 10 percent.

And finally: Before the final tax bills are computed, Texans can head to the polls on May 7 to vote on additional property tax relief. Bettencourt authored the two proposed constitutional amendments, which passed both chambers last summer with bipartisan support.

Proposition 1 would approve the tax cuts for elderly and also disabled homeowners beginning in 2023, while a second measure seeks to raise the state’s homestead exemption to $40,000.

The first proposal would offer relief for about 1.8 million seniors and also 180,000 homeowners with disabilities, amounting to roughly $220 million in savings in 2024, Bettencourt claimed. The raised homestead exemption for schools, meanwhile, would save homeowners about $176 annually starting this year, he added.

Actual savings would vary depending upon local tax obligation prices.

cayla.harris@express-news.net