Making growth pay for itself!

Tag Archives: appraisals

Sign Petition/Letter to Austin City Council-No Tax/Fee Hikes!

 

Yes, it is totally true — the City wants to raise your energy, water and property taxes by an average of $265 per year.  Sign this petition/letter to the 4 members of the Council up next for reelection — Mayor Leffingwell, and Councilmembers Cole, Martinez and Spelman.  They must end unnecessary projects and the practice of the “growth lobby” (aka the big boy developers and the real estate lobby) offloading the costs of growth onto current residents.  As we say at ChangeAustin.org, ‘welcome to Austin, but pay your own way’ and growth must pay for itself.  Sign here and pass it on, folks, or forever hold your peace on Austin’s affordability.

[emailpetition id=”2″]

You can ALSO print out the Petition-No Tax Rate Hikes 2012 City Budget here, take it around and mail it back to us by September 10th, before the City Council votes on September 12.

Protests Due Tuesday, June 1!!

Reminder!

If you feel your home has been over-valued by your county Appraisal District, make sure you get your protest forms in the mail, preferably today or tomorrow by certified mail return receipt requested.  If not, walk it in on Tuesday, and get a stamped copy.  If not, mail it registered on Tuesday.  If not, just mail it on Tuesday and take your chances!

You can include with that the “Request for Information” form here for Travis County (for Bastrop scroll to the bottom of this message), which will help you in preparation for your informal and formal hearings.

Then, please consider reviewing our slides shows on the left hand menu of our front page at ChangeAustin.org.

We now have two mock hearings scheduled below:  (Note:  if you want to do your own, we will help you!)

Property Tax Appraisal Protest Mock Hearing
Bastrop – location to be announced
Thursday, June 3rd, 6:30 pm
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Property Tax Appraisal Protest Mock Hearing
Carver Library, 1161 Angelina, Austin
Thursday, June 17th, 6:30 pm

Come Ye Austinites to Opal’s! Sat, Mar 27, 3-4 pm

Come ye Austinites to fill out a survey by the City on YOUR vision for Austin!

Comprehensive Plan – Imagine Austin
Saturday, March 27th, 3:00 – 4:00 pm*
Opal Divine’s on South Congress
3601 S. Congress, just north of Ben White

Yes, it’s called the Comprehensive Plan (Imagine Austin). It will serve as a guide to area officials for the next 40 years!

Here are the City’s questions and our translation:

City Speak:

What are the best things about Austin that need to be protected and carried forward?

ChangeAustin translation:

What cherished Austin values can be threatened to extort more tax money from us to subsidize more public infrastructure on behalf of the growth lobby? (Remember they want to double our area population in 16 years!)

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Homeowners & Renters Unite!

We have taken somewhat of a break but are now fully back in the saddle getting organized for forums starting on Saturday, April 17th through the end of May, assisting homeowners on protesting their property taxes. (For details coming soon, please check back here and/or sign up to get our emails on right hand side of this page.)

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You can lead officials to millions, but…

..you can’t make ’em blink.

Brian Rodgers at the County Commissioners Court, July 16
Brian Rodgers at the County Commissioners Court, July 16

The Short Story
The Travis County Commissioners Court has so far refused to call for a full audit and to file a formal challenge to the under-valuations of commercial properties in Travis County. But some smaller taxing authorities (who, will remain anonymous at the moment) have contacted us and are preparing to go after the money they’ve been missing from the big developer boys. Meanwhile, the City of Austin just released its proposed budget and — guess what — it contains a property tax increase!

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