'We can't afford it': Property appraisal values up 24% in Hays County

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Thousands of Hays County residents should be getting their appraisal notices any day now, and they likely will be higher than last year. The Hays Central Appraisal District said it mailed out 121,500 appraisal notices on Tuesday.

They said property appraisal values in the county have gone up by 24% this year. The overall market value of Hays County's 2023 preliminary appraisal roll increased to $69.89 billion.

'It's dragging us down badly'

Charie Valois and her husband have lived in their Buda home for seven years now.

In that time, she said their property value has nearly doubled from less than $300,000 to $550,000.

It's a growing price she said she and her husband aren't sure they can afford for much longer.

"It's kind of hard. I just don't know where it's gonna stop," Valois said.

While Valois hasn't received her property appraisal just yet, she said she's already dreading it.

"One more day of waiting to see what we're gonna have to pay," Valois said.

What is contributing to the increase?

One major factor for that change is all the new homes in the area.

HCAD said the county added more than 5,200 new homes and 26 new commercial buildings to the appraisal list for 2023.

In addition to that, total new improvements added more than $2 billion in taxable value as well. However, this is still not as big of a jump as last year.

According to HCAD, the total market value increase from 2021 to 2022 was 47%.

The organization said property tax revenues supply essential services such as schools, emergency services, firefighting, police, libraries and much more.

Anyone can appeal their appraisal.

HCAD said its seen an increase in appeals over the years. It said a majority of them will be done in mid-July but some could roll into late Fall.