Tarrant County Residents Protest Property Tax Hike
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – The reality of the hot real estate market is hitting homeowners in Tarrant County this month.
More than a thousand property owners have already filed protests to values that went up as much as 15 percent this year.
"There's houses around me that are $80-$90,000. They're pricing mine over, pretty close to $150,000 is a huge difference," said homeowner Robert Tizapantzi.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram devoted almost an entire page to print letters to the editor from about 1200 other disappointed homeowners like Tizapantzi. And the county's chief appraiser expects more, of the 500,000 property owners in the county to join the protest list, before the end of April.
Tizapantzi went to the Tarrant Appraisal District to try and figuring out how to fight the increase for his home, which increased the full 10-percent the law allows for homestead properties.
"In my area it doesn't make sense," said Tizapantzi.
The district told Tizapantzi he has until May second to file a protest. But the chief appraiser told CBS11 the district will honor a second part of the state tax code, that gives owners until May 31.
"I'm going to try, I really am. I'm going to try to get with my neighbors as well," said Tizapantzi about the protest filing deadline.
What remains to be seen is exactly what this does to property taxes. Grapevine-Colleyville school district said Monday that values went up so much, the tax rate for a bond election next month, will probably be lower now.
Other taxing entities could follow suit.
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