City, county show gains in value in preliminary report

By Janet Jacobs

Despite a decline in the national economy, the Navarro Central Appraisal District has set values higher than last year in most areas. The values are established by market values, or sales of similar properties, according to state law. Sales in Navarro have slowed, but prices haven’t gone down in most areas, said Karen Morris, chief appraiser.

“I saw an increase in every entity with the exception of one or two,” Morris told the appraisal board on Wednesday.

The county’s value rose at least $134 million, while the largest school district, Corsicana Independent School District, went up at least $88 million, and the City of Corsicana, the county’s largest city, rose at least $55 million.

The figures are only estimates until the tax rolls are certified, which has to happen by July 25. In the meantime, to give the cities and school districts something to work off, the appraisal district released figures that are 5 percent lower than the actual appraisal. That allows for some leeway if protests reduce the amounts.

The last protest, or appeal for a lower appraisal is scheduled for July 14.

“You still have that current value until those protests are completed, and you may not lose anything like 5 percent, but we have to give a safety zone to make sure we’re not overvalued,” Morris said.

The early estimates, minus the five percent, are used by cities, school districts and the county for their budget preparations. For example, more than a month ago, the City of Corsicana and Navarro County began internal discussions of where spending should go for next year, and where cuts could be made if appraisals came in lower than last year.

“They can’t do a whole lot on that until they get some numbers,” Morris said.

Taking the 5 percent into account, only Hubbard ISD and Bynam ISD appear to have lost value. Most other entities in the county will gain value, although not huge leaps.

Foreclosures in Navarro haven’t taken the toll as they have in other counties, and while sales have slowed, the prices haven’t fallen off that much. Low interest rates and the federal $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers have actually helped steady sales in the county, Morris said.

“We haven’t seen the market really fall out here,” she said.

Several cities and school districts saw some modest gains, but those seem related to industrial appraisals, Morris said.

The county changed its contract for industrial and mineral appraisals in 2009, from T.Y. Pickett to Capitol Appraisal Group. The new company costs a little more, but seems to be putting more technology and more manpower into the process, Morris said.

“It’s more of a fresh look at it,” she said. “They’ve had a chance to go in with a little better technology and more staff to help with not only appraisals but also the abatements and things like that.”

Rice ISD, Kerens ISD and Dawson ISD all appear to have benefited from higher industrial appraisals this year.

The biggest increase in the county was seen by the small town of Streetman, right on the county line between Navarro and Freestone. That city’s value in Navarro County went up 239 percent over 2008.

The reason was because the city annexed several miles of property along the Interstate, including two convenience stores, explained Johnny Robinson, mayor of Streetman.

“People wanted in the city, they wanted city water,” Robinson explained. “We’ll get some taxes from it. It will enable us to do more, but it will go into our water system. Our water system needs a lot of work, and we’ve got a little money.”

Some of the money has to go for other things, too, he added.

Because the outline of the city has changed by about 25 percent, the city has to produce new maps for the state, and buy new city limit signs, he said.

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