Galveston County Judge Calls for Property Appraisal Freeze and Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5th, 2020
Galveston County, Texas – Earlier today, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott requesting the Governor use his disaster powers to freeze 2020 property appraisals at 2019 values for local taxpayers.
Last week, Judge Henry sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in support of Texas State Representative Mayes Middleton’s request that the Attorney General freeze property appraisals at 2019 values due to the potential lack of due process in contesting appraisals. Texas taxpayers will not be allowed to contest their appraised property values in person this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn creates an excessive burden of time and resources on the taxpayer.
“I’ve requested Governor Abbott freeze property assessments at the 2019 values so local families don’t get hit with an additional economic burden during this COVID-19 crisis. The 2020 assessments are based on values prior to this pandemic and the
economic consequences that came with it. The right thing to do at this time would be to freeze values and reassess for next year when the economic impact can be taken into account.” said Judge Mark Henry.
Galveston County has cut their tax rate below the effective rate for the past eight years, totaling nearly 18%. During the 2019 Texas Legislative Session, Galveston County was one of the few local governments in the state that supporting SB2/HB2 imposing revenue caps on local governments. Judge Henry publicly stated that those reforms were not enough to deliver real property tax relief to taxpayers in Galveston County.
“I’ve also sent letters to our local state representatives and senators requesting that they take up property tax appraisal reform in the upcoming legislative session. I hopeful that our state leadership will recognize this issue and tackle it once and for all. Families all across Texas are in desperate need for property tax relief.” said Judge Mark Henry.
Galveston County Taxpayers wishing to contest their property appraisals should contact the Galveston County Central Appraisal District by visiting www.galvestoncad.org or calling 409-935-1980.
