Oogway said:
Did the City ever get an overlay for the neighborhood over there? Over a year ago they were discussing it because people who had lived a little further south were being taxed out of their homes but in turn had nowhere to go.
Do you mean the state streets? Taxed out of their homes was a completely false narrative! Go check the CAD values. Values have always been kept well below market due to who lives there. I own some properties there and it's the only place in Brazos county that I haven't consistently had to fight values every year. I have a 3/1.5 house that is currently assessed at
$71,900. That's crazy! That's where the county put it. Not me fighting for it to be that low. No doubt in my mind the local government is doing the people in the states streets a favor because of who they are. The city used the "taxed out of their home" bogeyman as a means to get the residents onboard with the cities overlay and maintain the demographic of that neighborhood. It wouldn't surprise me if they were promised that if they'd get on board with the overlay, their taxes would be lowered even further. As soon as the overlay was put in place my lot value went from 40,000 to 28,000. That got me wondering, so in searching the CAD, they dropped lot values for everyone in the state streets last year by 30%. Why? I guarantee you they didn't have the comps to support it. Try to find other lots in Bryan or College Station that were voluntarily reduced in value by the CAD last year. You cant. They all went up! Sure makes you wonder.
Funny thing is, as a property owner but not a resident, we were not allowed to be involved in the plan until it was an actual proposal.
The end long term result? Owners (including owner occupants) own property that is worth less than before. Then when they're ready to sell they can't understand why they can't get for their property what the people across the street are getting.