AUSTIN, Texas -- Travis County's Chief Tax Appraiser is expanding a program aimed at saving homeowners money.
In the past, appraisers compared home values to the entire neighborhood. Now, they're broken out between remodeled and original homes.
Properties will still be appraised at market value, but county officials say it will help ease the tax burden of families that haven't revamped their homes.
"We have got short supply and a lot of demand for properties," Marya Crigler said. "Relative to each other, there may be a difference in how much they appreciate in a given year based on the characteristics and based on how the properties are selling."
Crigler said the dual neighborhood appraisals will be used in Austin's urban core, generally defined by Mopac, US-183 and TX-71.
The Appraisal District saw a record number of protests in 2016. Crigler said the two-tier system could cut down the number of protests from neighborhoods that are seeing homes remodeled or replaced.