Any property owner in Houston or Harris county, be it residential or commercial, knows that the yearly notice from HCAD is an all around painful part of bookkeeping . But for 40,000 of them, it can be a nightmare involving no small mistake from the people behind the Harris County Appraisal District.
Every year, usually in January, HCAD mails out notice of exemptions to homeowners, seniors, the disabled, veterans, or anyone else who qualifies for a break on their yearly property taxes. The postcard confirms many items, including the amount of their exemption.
HCAD Chief Appraiser Sands Stiefer said, “We want to make it as easy as possible for homeowners to get the exemptions they are entitled to. If all the information on the top of the card is correct, the homeowner does not have to do anything.”
However, the statement did not advise on what to do if the information is incorrect.
On November 10th of this year Mike Sullivan, our illustrious tax assessor and collector, announced that over 900,000 property tax bills were put in the mail and sent to eagerly awaiting property owners in the Harris County area. He also encouraged property owners to pay their bill as soon as possible.
Unfortunately just nine days later, a mistake was found. For those living in the Houston Community College area, also known as HCC, they found that the folks at HCAD had miscalculated the amount of an exemption to the tune of $30,000. This error is estimated to be on the bills of 40,000 of our residents, or about 5% of all tax paying property owners.
“It was brought to my attention last night that there was an error on some of those tax bills,” said Mike Sullivan earlier this week. “Specifically, Houston Community College System taxpayers who have an Over-65 or Disabled Homestead Exemption should have received a $120,000 exemption. Instead they received a $90,000 exemption, the same as last year.”
HCAD has already mailed a form letter apology to disabled individuals and seniors who might have received one of the miscalculated property tax bills. Anyone affected by this error is supposed to have their corrected statement mailed to them within seven days. Those who may have already paid or will pay the accidentally higher property tax bill are supposed to receive a refund for the extra amount, but we strongly advise bringing the matter to your bookkeeper to straighten out.
“Houston Community College officials notified this office of the change in exemption, and we failed to update that in our system,” Sullivan continued. “I regret the mistake occurred. I accept responsibility and extend a sincere apology to the affected taxpayers,” said Sullivan.
Anyone who wants to confirm or question their property tax bill can cross their fingers and dial 713-274-8000.
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