Ultimate El Paso County Real Property Tax Guide for 2024

Sometimes advisors specializing in these protests ask for a fee on a contingency basis. Such an agreement means the service charge you pay is limited to a percentage of any tax reduction. Without tax savings, you pay nothing!

They’ll examine current assessments, conduct more in-depth research, look for missing exemptions, examine tax rolls for inconsistencies, file protests before going to conferences, and coordinate a lawsuit when needed. Companies are very assertive on exemption issues, which have proven to be complicated and sometimes lead to court challenges.

When challenging taxes, two approaches are commonly employed for re-computing proposed fair market values. A re-appraisal often makes use of one of these methods, i.e. a “sales comparison” or an “unequal appraisal” review. Both involving nearby real property, sales comparisons appraise market values utilizing recent sales data while unequal appraisals focus on appraisal disparity between similar real property.

Community unaffiliated appraisal companies that concentrate on onsite assessments frequently employ the sales comparison method. An in-person investigation of the real property is usually required. Undertaken by a State Licensed appraiser, its conclusions are of unassailable importance. Only a thorough re-examination of the whole appraisal process could conceivably reverse the tax consultant’s conclusions. For example, three comparable houses sold for $500,000, while the re-evaluated home requires a $10,000 reshingling, then its new value declines to $490,000.

The unequal appraisal process is employed to look for potential tax savings even if appraised values don’t exceed current market values. By locality, a listing of properties that are about equal in estimated market value is produced via an automated procedure. Next comes a matching of these properties’ respective tax levy amounts within each group. Many times a resulting tax assessed disparities that’s 10 percent or more over the representative median level will be checked out. Clients are typically charged a percentage applied to any tax savings, so they aren’t charged any out-of-pocket cost nor any fee at all without realizing some tax cutback.

Select a tax professional meeting your needs in the directory featuring the best property tax protest companies in El Paso County TX.

State law gives several thousand local governmental entities the authority to assess real estate taxes. Generally taxing districts’ tax levies are combined under a single notice from the county. Collections are then disbursed to associated entities as predetermined. In general, there are three phases to real property taxation, namely: setting tax levies, estimating market value, and then collecting the tax.

Accorded by Texas law, the government of your city, public colleges, and thousands of various special districts are given authority to appraise housing market value, establish tax rates, and assess the tax. Authorized as legal governmental entities, they’re administered by elected officials or appointees. They perform their duties in a discrete area such as within city limits or special purpose units such as recreation parks, sanitation treatment stations, and police districts.

The state’s laws have to be observed in the city’s handling of taxation. All real estate not exempted is taxed equally and uniformly on one current market value basis. Taxpayer’s rights to timely notification of rate increases are also mandated.

While observing statutory checks mandated by law, the city establishes tax rates. As we’ll explain further, appraising property, billing and taking in payments, undertaking compliance tasks, and clearing discord are all reserved for the county.

El Paso County undertakes property appraisals for cities and special purpose governmental entities. Texas also enacted rules that county officials are mandated to follow in appraising real estate. This helps to make sure real property appraisals are mainly carried out equitably. This is a prime point to inspect for evaluation unevenness and oversights.

Commonly, one of three appraisal approaches (with many modifications) is employed to value real property. The Sales Comparison methodology entails contrasting recent like properties’ sale prices in the same community. The Income Method is predicated upon how much prospective income likely would be generated from income-producing property. One Cost Approach variation assumes commercial real estate value could equal the current expense for a building replication while factoring in depreciation and land’s worth.

An assessor from the county’s office sets your real estate’s worth. That assigned value is multiplied by the set tax rate — the total of all applicable governmental taxing-authorized units’ rates. Those entities include your city, El Paso County, districts and special purpose units that produce that composite tax levy.

Property taxes have traditionally been local governments’ very own area as a revenue source. In addition to El Paso County and districts such as schools, many special districts like water and sewer treatment plants, as well as transportation and safety services, depend on tax money.

Texas counties rely on the property tax to sustain public services. Again, real property taxes are the largest way the city pays for them, including over half of all public school financing. Not only for the county and cities, but down to special-purpose districts as well, such as water treatment plants and recreational parks, with all dependent on the real property tax.

A big chunk of real estate tax revenues goes toward public schools. Another big slice is required for municipal and other governmental employees’ salaries and benefits. Financing police and fire protection is another material need. Then there’s highway construction and different other transportation demands. Another must is water and sanitation stations, as well as garbage removal. Don’t forget about organized recreation services, such as parks, and various entertainment amenities. Given all this, it’s no surprise why tax bills are many times so hefty.