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Background: Currently, when a homeowner’s primary residence is appraised for property taxes, the appraised value cannot be increased by more than 10% for each year since the previous appraisal. Appraisal districts can wait as long as 3 years between appraisals, so some homeowners can face up to a 30% increase in the home’s taxable value all at once, if three years have passed since the last appraisal.

This proposed amendment would limit the annual increase in the appraised value to 10%, regardless of the number of years since the property was previously appraised.

For: Proposition 3 will provide the relief intended by the Legislature when it first approved the 10% appraisal cap in 1997. That cap was designed to protect homeowners from “sticker shock” by limiting the amount that an appraisal could increase in any year. Many appraisal districts appraise every year, so their taxpayers are already getting the benefit of a 10% yearly cap. But some districts wait three years to reappraise and then hit the homeowner with a 30% increase all at once. Such increases would be limited to 10% under this amendment. Rep. Hochberg authored this amendment, and also co-authored the amendment that established the current property tax cap.

Against: Proposition 3 is unnecessary because most large appraisal districts, which typically have the greatest property value increases, already reappraise every year. Any time a tax cut is given to one group, the burden is shifted to others taxpayers. Instead of doing this, the Legislature should have lowered the 10% cap.

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the Scott Hochberg Campaign
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9/20/07