DALLAS — North Texans are bracing for the latest appraisal values on their homes, some already seeing quite the jump in the price of their property.
Josh Fischer has lived in the downtown Dallas area for eight years, purchasing his first condo when he made the move. While the skyline view is pretty, Fischer — like many other Texans — has had to worry about the value of his property being estimated at more than it's worth, which leads to higher property taxes.
“Ultimately, my first condo when I bought it, I got quite a deal. Property taxes remained low,” Fischer said.
However, the rapid growth in the downtown area quickly started to raise the value of his home. Fischer saw his first condo’s value go up by $93,000 between 2015 and 2019.
The startling jump pushed Fischer to move to another condominium in the same building to find some relief in 2020.
“Last two years, I’ve actually enjoyed lower property taxes compared to other areas, and that was mainly because of COVID,” Fischer noted.
That’s because Fischer has protested the worth of his home every single year, along with making sure to file for a homestead tax exemption.
Fischer says during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he went to the Dallas County Appraisal District to argue that because most businesses were closed down due to COVID-19, the value of his home should remain low.
It’s a fight that many other North Texans are expected to take on in the coming weeks. A report from the Texas Association of Appraisal District shows that major cities like Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington could see a nearly 24% increase in home values.
Even with tax breaks like homestead exemption, it’s still hitting the pockets of many homeowners, including Patrick Donlin.
“Our expenses go up as a small-time landlord. It could be property tax, it could be insurance, it could be labor. That cost eventually gets passed on to the tenant,” Donlin said.
Donlin is the CEO of Mr. D Real Estate Group in DFW. He oversees around 40 units that are mostly made up of residential properties in East Dallas. He says their company looks to provide high-quality, affordable housing to community members in that area.
He too is fighting for reasonable home values, fearful that it could start impacting the monthly rent of his tenants.
“We need property taxes to function as a city. The challenge to me is when we remove positive, contributing, local members of society in the community because taxes are too high,” Donlin said.
Both Donlin and Fischer intend to keep protesting to ensure they’re not paying more than what their properties are worth.