2020 Travis County Tax Appraisals to Remain Same as 2019

[David Ivy]

Due to a dispute between the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) and the Austin Board of Realtors, TCAD does not plan to re-appraise residential properties for 2020. This means that the appraised market value for your property in Austin and elsewhere in Travis County will very likely be the same as 2019. However, according to the Austin Business Journal, "The taxable value of a property could still increase in 2020. For instance, if a property owner has a homestead exemption that limits the annual increase in the taxable value to 10%, but the taxable value is still below the market value, they could see an increase of up to 10%. Or, if there is new construction in 2020, that would add to the taxable value. New homes will also receive appraisals." My overall reading, though, is that values will remain the same for the vast majority of residential property owners.

This is also a good time to remind everyone, especially out-of-state investors, that Texas is a non-disclosure state, meaning that owners of homes and other properties are not required to disclose what they paid for the property. Sales prices are not automatically a matter of public record in Texas.

So, when you receive the type of letter bellow from the county, you are not required to tell them what you paid. It is the appraisal district's job to use whatever legal methods are at their disposal to arrive at their own value, which the property owner can then protest.