County property values up five percent

The total value of property in Donley County has increased 5.06 percent over last year, according to a report this week from the Donley Appraisal District.

The 2004 appraised value for property in the county’s jurisdiction totals nearly $160 million, an increase of $7.7 million over 2003 figures. The average home in Donley County is valued at $29,240.

Chief Appraiser Paula Lowrie said the appraisal district looks at all the known sales that have occurred in the last year and bases increased valuations on that information. Local taxing entities use the property valuations when setting their tax rates for the coming year.

Although some sources cite higher property valuations as a sign of a growing economy, many local residents don’t like seeing their valuation increase because it results in a higher property tax bill even if a taxing entity does not increase its tax rate.

This year more than twice as many property owners filed to appeal their valuations than the year before.

Lowrie said 98 people filed protests, and ten of those settled their disputes before the Appraisal Review Board met July 8-9.  Forty-nine of the remaining 88 presented their cases before the Board, and of those only nine were granted an adjustment.

Appraisal district officials say they can only go by the market prices set by real estate sales and follow the guidelines set by the state in setting valuations.

“Appraised values are still only 70 percent of what the sales actually were,” Lowrie said.

Valuations in all local taxing entities were up this year.

Property owners inside the City of Hedley experienced the smallest percentage increase, as property values in that city rose 3.16 percent from $5.98 million in 2003 to $6.17 million in 2004. But property in the in Hedley Independent School District had the biggest percentage increase with values rising 6.93 percent from $24 million last year to $25.7 million.

Valuations in the City of Clarendon are up 4.9 percent to $50.3 million, and property values in the City of Howardwick are up 5.99 percent to $13.7 million.  The average home in Clarendon is worth $33,340; and the average Howardwick residence is worth $23,240.

The average home in jurisdiction of the Clarendon Independent School District is valued at $30,674; and property values within the CISD increased 5.74 percent to a total of $123.2 million.

Valuations in the Clarendon College District and the Donley County Hospital District were similar to the county itself – about $160 million – with increases of 5.00 percent and 5.42 percent respectively. The difference being due to certain tax abatements given by those entities, Lowrie said.