Like it or not, central appraisal districts have at least two major constitutional burdens they must enforce when appraising the market value of property.
The first burden is to appraise property at true market value. The second is to make sure that all comparable properties are valued equally and uniformly. Stated simply, no appraisal district can appraise your house at $250,000 and your neighbor’s identical house in every way next door at $150,000. In the real world, exactly identical houses are not common.
And this is where the problem begins according to one of the leading property tax agents in Texas Patrick O’Connor, president of the O’Connor and Associates firm. Over the last several years, O’Connor has strongly criticized central appraisal districts throughout Texas especially including ones in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties for the way they have developed mathematical formulas that assert “proof” that the appraisal districts are complying with the property tax code and the Texas Constitution.
