With a large crowd expected, the Citizens Against High Tax Appraisal group’s “Knowledge is Power Workshop” has been moved to the Fulshear Irene Stern Community Center.
The decision to change the location from Bluebonnet Storage was made after CAHTA received numerous inquiries from people wanting to attend.
The community center was chosen as the new meeting place because it has the capacity to accommodate a large number of people. The center is located at 6920 Fulshear Rd.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. as originally scheduled.
Scheduled speakers include Fulshear Mayor Jamie Roberts, Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, Fulshear resident and CAHTA spokesperson Melisa Roberts and real estate agents Russell Rosenbaum and Nicole Pope.
The tax reform group launched its campaign to get Texas property tax appraisals reformed at last week’s Fulshear City Council meeting.
Speaking for a group of more than 60 residents present in the city council chambers, Melisa Roberts called the rise in Fulshear-area appraisals a “crisis.”
“We are facing a crisis in our city today in which many of us are at risk of losing our homes and property. In the last two years, our tax appraisals have skyrocketed,” Roberts said.
She said the dramatic rise in property appraisals began last year and continued into this year.
“In 2008, many of us were outraged by the horrendous increases in our property values. Many of us protested and lost, while others of us found mercy,” Roberts said during her presentation. “While our cries of outrage were primarily unheard, some of us thought the worst was over. With a failing economy, we were certain our values would stay the same and were even hoping to see a decrease just as many others in Fort Bend County have experienced. Unfortunately, we the people in Fulshear and the local area have been victimized by the Fort Bend County Appraisal District again.”
Roberts showed her own property appraisal notices to illustrate the dramatic increases in appraised values in the Fulshear area.
“In 2008, I personally saw an increase of 1100 percent on my property. This year, that had increased by 2300 percent – and you heard that correctly, 2300 percent,” she told Fulshear council members last week. “There are hundreds of us in this community who have similar stories.”
She asked the city council for their help, saying residents feel their hands are tied and they cannot fight the entrenched appraisal system alone. Regardless, Roberts pledged to move forward with the appraisal reform effort.
“We are not the first group to organize to fight tax appraisal districts across Texas; however, with your help and support, we can change legislation to make us the last group of people to have to fight these battles,” Roberts said.
Only 60 people? I guess the targets were districted out of community concern and support. Next years targets may be you or me. This sounds like the marginalizing that Home Owner Associations do to extort extra fees, fines, and foreclosures from “individuals” one at a time (especially at closings). They know your neighbors won’t care unless it’s them on the line. Individualism pays alright, but not for the individual! Support yourself, support your neighbor, not your extorting HOA and abusive taxing system.