Property owners to receive new postcards regarding tax rate information

RUSK – Older generations of Texans may remember sending and receiving postcards in the mail. Those postcards often had pictures of popular travel destinations or other humorous images along with a short note.

Beginning this year, local property owners will be receiving a postcard in the mail starting Aug. 7, but this one will not be humorous nor from a friend.

The State’s legislature has decided local appraisal districts should deliver a postcard to each property owner in the county. The postcard directs owners to a website where they can see the impact of different tax rates on their property tax bill. The address of the website will be printed on the postcard.

The website allows an owner to search for property in various ways including using name or property identification number. Depending on the search criteria entered, a list of properties will appear allowing the owner to view detailed tax information about a specific property.

Four different tax rate scenarios will be available. Two of those rates result directly from actions taken by the taxing authority’s governing body. The “proposed rate” is the starting point for each governing body. This rate is what elected officials believe they will need to impose to provide for their budgets. After they “propose” a rate, they will act again in late August or September to actually “adopt” a rate.

Two other rates are also provided on the website. There is a “No New Revenue” rate which is a rate that theoretically generates the same tax revenue this year that the taxing authority brought in last year on properties existing in both years. This rate will go down as tax values go up, and vice versa. It is a good indicator of how balanced tax values are versus tax rates.

The last rate on the website is called the “Voter-Approval” rate. If elected officials adopt a rate higher than the voter-approval rate, voters will have the opportunity to either ratify the higher rate or force elected officials to lower the adopted rate down to the voter-approval rate at the November general election.

While the website allows an owner to see what their total tax bill might be at each of these rates, it also allows owners the opportunity to express their feelings. Using this function, owners can communicate their opinions about tax rates directly back to the elected officials who determine those rates.

The website listed on the postcard will be continuously updated throughout the months of August and September as proposed and adopted rates are determined. Property owners are encouraged to keep checking the website for updates.