The Collin County Observer™

The Collin County Appraisal District released the 'final' taxable property values today. Ed Housewright of the Dallas Morning News writes, in an article titled "Collin County's property appraisals go flat", that:

"After more than a decade of steady increases, property values are generally stagnant or declining.

The grim news is prompting cities and school districts to consider budget cuts and tax increases for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Plano, once at the forefront of growth, saw its tax roll dip for the first time since 1991. According to the figures released Tuesday by the Collin Central Appraisal District, Plano's values in the county fell 1.34 percent to $24.63 billion. (A portion of the city is in Denton County.)

Collin County's next-largest cities – Allen, Frisco and McKinney? – experienced slight increases in property values. But they pale in comparison to the double-digit growth of recent years.

The county's overall tax base inched up less than 1 percent to $72.31 billion this year, according to the appraisal district."

..."The average home value countywide dipped from $235,031 last year to $233,591 this year, according to the appraisal district. Average home values ranged from a low of $69,706 in Blue Ridge to a high of $415,033 in Parker."

Matthew Haag, writing in the DMN Plano Blog reports that Plano's budget is calling for a 1.5-cent property tax rate increase. Haag notes that tax hike will not stem the rising deficits and falling revenues:

"The tax increase would be Plano's second since 1990. (In 2006, Plano raised its tax rate to create an economic development fund.)

Second, budget officials revealed that Plano (even with the tax hike) faces projected deficits in 2011 ($24 million) and 2012 ($30 million).

Third, Plano's existing commercial property base could fall as much as 5 percent in the coming year. (One of the reasons for the projected deficits.)

In short, the city faces a long, long road ahead."

Other cities and school districts will feel the economic pressure as property values fall and business inventories continue to shrink. Many cities are also seeing a sharp drop in sales tax revenue.

Collin County's 2009 final tax roll
The results of Collin County's 2009 final tax roll, in billions of dollars:

	2008 ($ billion)	2009 ($ billion)	Change
Collin County	$71.81	$72.31	+0.69%
Collin College	$73.84	$74.46	+0.85%
Cities
Allen	$7.03	$7.32	+4.01%
Anna	$0.383	$0.378	-1.51%
Blue Ridge	$0.027	$0.026	-4.00%
Celina	$0.463	$0.463	+0.08%
Fairview	$0.964	$1.05	+9.19%
Farmersville	$0.151	$0.154	+1.85%
Frisco	$8.81	$8.93	+1.31%
Josephine	$0.030	$0.031	+2.65%
Lavon	$0.144	$0.153	+6.29%
Lowry Crossing	$0.094	$0.093	-0.57%
Lucas	$0.508	$0.534	+4.99%
McKinney	$10.62	$10.70	+0.71%
Melissa	$0.340	$0.344	+1.18%
Murphy	$1.41	$1.47	+3.95%
Nevada	$0.038	$0.040	+7.25%
New Hope	$0.035	$0.035	+0.57%
Parker	$0.490	$0.493	+0.50%
Plano	$24.97	$24.63	-1.34%
Princeton	$0.275	$0.281	+2.10%
Prosper	$0.984	$1.02	+3.99%
St. Paul	$0.074	$0.072	-3.53%
Weston	$0.033	$0.032	-2.24%
Wylie	$2.21	$2.26	+2.24%
School districts
Allen ISD	$6.83	$7.18	+5.15%
Anna ISD	$0.531	$0.526	-0.95%
Blue Ridge ISD	$0.120	$0.122	+2.04%
Celina ISD	$0.651	$0.646	-0.67%
Community ISD	$0.445	$0.462	+3.86%
Farmersville ISD	$0.336	$0.345	+2.70%
Frisco ISD	$12.42	$12.75	+2.64%
Lovejoy ISD	$1.48	$1.53	+3.22%
McKinney ISD	$9.09	$9.04	-0.49%
Melissa ISD	$0.430	$0.432	+0.35%
Plano ISD	$34.85	$34.51	-0.96%
Princeton ISD	$0.515	$0.518	+0.55%
Prosper ISD	$1.61	$1.66	+3.34%
Wylie ISD	$3.10	$3.17	+2.31%
Special districts
Seis Lagos Utility District	$0.109	$0.108	-0.65%

NOTE: Tax roll amounts are rounded. Some cities are in more than one county. These figures reflect only the Collin County portion of those cities.
SOURCE: Collin County Central Appraisal District and the Dallas Morning News

Also see the Channel 33 broadcast on Collin County falling property values - "Earlier this month several cities in collin county were featured in Forbes magazine, now city leaders are reporting that growth has flattened. Property values have even dropped for some residents."

Bill