05/23/17
Press Release
Jo Ann Hohertz
Chief Appraiser
Comanche Central Appraisal District
Taxpayers will soon receive a 2017 notice of appraised value from the Comanche Central Appraisal District (CAD) IF your property was reappraised this year or the value increased $1,000 or more. These notices are not bills, they are simply a way to notify taxpayers of the appraisal district’s proposed market value.
By law, the CAD must appraise property at its market value each year. The Comptroller’s office conducts
the Property Value Study (PVS) to test the values the CAD assigns to each category of property and the
level of appraisal for all categories must be within 5% of the study’s determination. Unfortunately, the
PVS determined that the CAD is outside of this limit and Comanche ISD and De Leon ISD are at risk to lose state funding as they will not qualify for the grace period for the 2017 tax year if the CAD does not improve its performance for the 2017 study.
The primary purpose of the PVS is help ensure equitable distribution of state funding for public education. The State of Texas allocates state funds to school districts based upon the CAD’s appraisal, as tested and modified by the Comptroller and then the Commissioner of Education equitably distributes education funds.
If the state were to rely solely on the values set by the CADs, inequitable school funding could result. After conducting the PVS the Comptroller determines that a school district’s values are valid or invalid. The PVS has determined that the CAD’s values for those school districts is invalid based on sales information and the CAD uses sales information when it determines the market value of property in the county.
State law requires that the CAD appraise all taxable property within its boundaries and notify owners about changes in taxable value, then the taxing units set the rates and collect the taxes. This notice also contains important information about the property’s location, ownership, exemptions applied to the property, and an estimate of 2017 taxes. This property value is also used by the Comptroller in performing the Property Value Study to estimate the total taxable value of each school district which can affect their state funding.
Property owners who disagree with the appraised value of their property, exemptions or any other action
by the CAD have the right to appeal to the Comanche County Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The ARB
is a group of citizens who live in the county, are appointed by the Comanche Central Appraisal District
Board of Directors and are responsible for hearing and settling protests.
The notice of appraised value includes a protest form that MUST be filed by June 23rd this year. However, the Appraisal District encourages property owners to speak to appraisal district staff before filing a formal protest as some issues may be resolved informally. Come by the office Monday – Friday from 8-4:30 or call 325-356-5253.
After filing a written protest with the ARB, the property owner will receive notice of the date, time, place
for the hearing, hearing procedures, model hearing procedures, guidelines for rescheduling and the property owner’s affidavit of evidence form. After the ARB completes its hearings and approves the final property values, your taxing units (city, county, school district, hospital and water district) will use these appraised values to set 2017 tax rates. Appraised value x tax rate = 2017 property taxes
The law contains specific timelines & procedures for the ARB, CAD and property owners. Texas
Comptroller’s publication, Property Taxpayer’s Remedies, a reference guide addresses property tax basics, provides a step-by-step guide on preparing for an ARB hearing and what to do if dissatisfied with ARB decision. Property Taxpayer’s Remedies is available at the Comanche Central Appraisal District office at 8 Huett Circle, Comanche, Texas, or on our website comanchecad.org under the links, or on the state Comptroller’s Web site at www.comptroller.texas.gov/taxinfo/proptax.
