It was gratifying to see the Chronicle address the issue of high property taxes in the editorial “As home values drop...” on Monday. However, you failed to address one point: the extent to which the Harris County Appraisal District and similar tax assessment agencies across the country are the source of the current problem.
For the past decade, HCAD has assessed huge tax increases on homeowners, oblivious to the fact that it was a major contributor to the over-appraisals that then fueled the real estate bubble. In the past three years, HCAD continued to over-appraise properties, even though the real estate market was plummeting in many areas locally. HCAD’s actions caused unprecedented revenues to flow into city, county and school coffers, inflating the size of government and establishing unrealistic baselines for future appraisals.
When the recession hit, nobody in government gave any serious consideration to cutting budgets, as the private sector was forced to do. Instead, they sought further tax increases. One prime example documented by the Chronicle recently was the debate in Cy-Fair Independent School District over whether to eliminate the 20 percent homestead exemption (“Cy-Fair considers major tax increase; Homestead exemption could disappear; bills could rise 30%,” Page A1, June 10).
I’m distressed that the education establishment is not being held to account and that HCAD is not held to account for its predatory assessment policies. Until government bureaucrats and the agencies they control are forced to play by the same rules as the rest of us, nothing will change. Here’s hoping the Chronicle will continue to shine a spotlight on their activities.
— Pete Smith, Cypress
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