FROM THE PUBLISHER | The double-edged sword of appraisal increases

Big increases in property values are a double-edged sword — homeowners benefit if they’re going to sell, but they lose in the meantime because it generally means higher taxes. Local governments determine tax rates, but — let’s be serious – they never cut the tax rate enough to compensate for the increase in appraisal values. That’s why your taxes never go down.

And that’s why people protest, going through the odd contortions of arguing that their largest asset is worth less than somebody else says it is.

But the county property appraiser is generally right, since they basically follow market trends. Housing values have shot up in the past couple of years, driven by high demand goosed by historically low interest rates. Low interest rates mean people can afford to pay more for houses, which is why houses were selling immediately for more than their list price. Appraisals also generally lag by a year, so the numbers we’re seeing on the county appraisals now reflect what was happening a year ago.

Put simply: The appraiser is usually pretty accurate. By law they have to be.

The big jumps will slow down next year, since the market has generally slowed as rates have risen.

You can also try to affect the process by advocating restraint in local government budgeting. That process is about to start; it’s a long slog through the summer, and nobody ever shows up at the hearings. You can also simply make your feelings known to your elected representatives, since that’s what they’re there for. We at The Mercury will pay attention, of course, since that’s what you pay us to do.

And on your behalf, I should say here that, whatever the spending pressures that inevitably bear down on local governments, they really need to rein themselves in the upcoming process. They’ll need to cut tax rates, or else they’ll have a tax revolt on their hands. That’s what a 12 percent jump in tax bills would do to people. But that’s what’s coming, without some rather assertive moves by administrative leaders and the elected officials who oversee them.

Should be an interesting summer. More to come.