1. Yes, I am arguing that a property such as Matthews Southwest pays a lower percentage of the fair market value of Southside on Lamar than one of the owners of a single family house just on the other side of the Trinity.

2. Single family homes are usually appraised at between 95 and 105 percent of fair market value while commercial property is rarely appraised anywhere close to fair market value.

3. Income valuation is a joke. Large commercial property owners can appeal an appraisal review boards decision in a district court. Once the protest is in district court, the County Appraisal District has the burden of proof on establishing value. This gives the Appraisal District a good incentive to negotiate the valuation of the taxable property. The commercial land owner more often than not makes out like a bandit.

http://www.taad.org/Need%20for%20Mandatory%20Sales%20Disclosure.pdf

Where did you get the $430K number from? Isn’t Southside in a City TIF district? And I’m also not trying to disparage Matthews Southwest. I think what they’ve done around S. Lamar is terrific. But Matthews shouldn’t have access to tax-exempt, low interest government financing that his competitors lack.

1. I stand corrected on the base rates, but if you’re trying to argue that commercial properties don’t generate their fair share of tax revenue, then you’re the one that doesn’t know sh*t.

2. Should be appraised at 100% of value is a joke. Have you ever tried to fight the bureaucrats at the appraisal district?

3. Commercial property is very easy to value based on income (land is another story). Apartments are especially easy to valuate based on income and comparable rents.

Southside on Lamar pays over $430K per year in property taxes just for the main building. I’m not including all the peripheral property they own.

You don’t know sh*t about property taxes in Texas if you think commercial property owners pay higher rates than single family residential property owners. Let me inform you. 1.) The Texas Constitution mandates that all property taxes should be equal and based on the value of the property. 2). The Texas Tax Code says that all property should be appraised at 100 percent of its fair market value. 3) Because single family residential property is easy to value and commercial and multifamily residential is very difficult to value, the former pays a much higher percentage of fair market value in taxes than the latter.

In sum, if this hotel fails to earn enough revenue to pay down the debt, single family home owners will be stuck with a disproportionate amount of the bill as opposed to all of those hip renters in the RIP ad from the Southside Lofts. Now who owns the Southside Lofts on Lamar anyway….

You’re right. Commercial property tax rates are a lot higher than residential rates, and those big apartment complexes pay a lot in taxes. It’s all passed through to the renters through higher rents.

Would it be fair if only property owners could vote? Oh wait…we tried that for a while and it didn’t work out so well.

As for the out of towners, I dunno. Leppert’s ad makes a big deal over the billionaire and the California ad agency, as if they had something to do with the issue. RIP’s foreign (to the issue) venue depicted in its ad was just weird.

Unfair? Dunno.