Commercial property owners in town have just received their new valuations from the Central Appraisal District.
Many have seen increases of 200 to 240% from last year to this. If all property in the area went up by the same percentage our individual taxes would remain essentially flat.
Unfortunately that will not be the case. The district seems to have a policy of raising values indiscriminately and waiting for the property owner to protest. We know that they do not actually do an appraisal. They simply place a value on the property with the hope that it will hold. If you keep quiet you lose.
I have heard many horror stories from property owners who went to the district to protest valuations themselves. If you have never been through this be prepared for an incredibly unfair journey. Staff will set you up for failure at your hearing. When you are at the hearing and learn what you should have done to prepare you will be told that you have already had your chance. Better luck next time.
You should protest. You should be prepared. Talk with someone who has been through the process successfully.
Another approach is to hire a firm that will handle the protest for you and charge you a percentage of the amount that they save you. While I do not condemn those people who provide the service, think of the situation. We have a government agency that is so hard to deal with that you have to hire representation. I am not talking about complex legal or tax matters. Every property owner knows that his property is worth and can prove it.
The district is run by a board that is made up of elected officials. Shame on them.
Our alternative to higher taxes is to go to the district and protest. If politeness does not work you should demand your rights as a citizen. Remember the the review board that you will be presenting to is paid by the district. What is worse is that the district gets to choose who stays on the board and who is let go.
Most of us don’t have a problem paying our fair share. These people are thugs.
They need to hear from us in person.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Foster gets his taxes reduced and everybody else has to pay for it.
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Brutus,
This “thuggery” also applies to residential real estate appraisals as well, just not as extreme. The CAD knows that the average homeowner doesn’t have the time, knowledge or money to challenge their tax bill. The CAD probably applies that same logic to the large of number of owners of small commercial properties.
Check out today’s paper: the El Paso City Plan Commission rejected Wal-Mart’s request to rezone the 3.1-acre site at Montana and Chelsea to build its seventh El Paso Neighborhood Market. Wal-Mart’s request was rejected despite the fact that they had made significant modifications to their plans in order to address concerns of city planners. The Commission also ignored the recommendation of its own staff, a key point that is buried at the end of the article.
High, irrational taxes…arbitrary refusal to support reasonable redevelopment…we could go on. These kinds of policies and actions fly in the face of sound economic development policy. The truth is that our leaders are primarily focused on economic development projects that benefit a certain few or originate here. Richard Dayoub was correct when he said that El Paso continues to send messages that El Paso is unfriendly to business, especially out of town businesses.
Wal-Mart’s situation is reminiscent of the problems faced by another out-of-towner several years ago. A major mall developer attempted to develop the Farah site about 10 years ago and met stiff resistance from local power brokers and developers who had their own sights set on that property. The excuse was that the developer wanted tax incentives and that the site was prime real estate that did not justify tax breaks.
Once insiders decided to purchase and develop the site, local politicians and city and county managers got on board and ponied up a reported $12 million in tax incentives.
If City Council upholds the Zoning Commission’s decision to deny Wal-Mart’s request, it will be interesting to see what happens on that site in the future.
Enough said.
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