TCAD: Pflugerville 2025 net taxable value estimated at $12.3 billion; litigation and House Bill 9 could change final rolls

Travis Central Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Liana Mann told the Pflugerville City Council at a July 8 work session that TCAD currently estimates the City of Pflugerville's 2025 net taxable value at $12,300,000,000.

Mann said the estimate includes new value and noted that TCAD is still processing protests. "We are only 76% complete with our protest," she said, and the office is continuing to track active litigation that can change final assessed values.

The appraisal update matters because changes to the certified roll affect tax-rate calculations and how much homeowners and businesses pay. Mann told council members that the residential average market value of an owner-occupied (homestead) property in Pflugerville is roughly $404,000 (a 4% decline from 2024) while taxable value for homesteads is about $383,000 because of the state homestead cap.

How TCAD produced the estimate

Mann said TCAD revised its approach this year, using a five-year trend to estimate value-loss during the protest season and increasing the value-loss trend in the model. She said that adjustment made the office's July certified estimate slightly lower than prior years but, in her judgement, more accurate.

Litigation and protests

Mann described a sharp rise in litigation: "We have seen a significant increase in chapter 42 appeals. Over the last 10 years, we've seen a 570 increase in the volume of litigation we're handling," she said, describing the change observed in Travis County and across the state.

She explained the difference between the protest process and court litigation: a Chapter 41 protest begins with a notice of appraised value and a property owner can contest that through TCAD's administrative process; if unresolved, the owner may pursue Chapter 42 litigation in district court. Mann said the district resolves most cases by settlement: "99% of them settle. We go to trial 2 or 3 times a year," she said, adding that the office has been successful in most trials.

Mann said commercial taxpayers file most of the litigation, which can shift the tax burden toward residential property owners if commercial values are reduced through appeals or litigation and those reductions are finalized.

Active litigation in Pflugerville, value loss assumptions

Mann told council that the district currently shows about $833,000,000 of Pflugerville value in active litigation. She said TCAD has measured a value loss of roughly 6.26% attributable to litigation historically, and that when preparing the certified estimates the office accounts for expected losses (she said TCAD used a 10% estimate last year when presenting certified numbers to the city).

State law changes and House Bill 9

Mann said House Bill 9, a personal-property exemption that takes effect in January 2026, will not affect the 2025 tax roll but will require major changes to appraisal systems and procedures this fall: "It is going to be a complete rewrite of our appraisal systems, programming wise. So it's gonna be a very busy fall," she said.

Mann said TCAD participated in a statewide work group with attorneys and appraisal districts to clarify vague statutory terms in HB9 (for example, "business enterprise" and "common business enterprise"). She said guidance from the state controller's office is expected in September or October but that many interpretive questions remain. Mann told council staff she had provided preliminary estimates to the city and to staff but did not state a final Pflugerville-specific number in the meeting; she also said she had earlier shown staff an estimate that "there was over a billion dollars in value that I believe would be exempted from the appraisal roll," but she did not confirm during the meeting whether that figure referred to Pflugerville specifically or to a broader area.

Homestead audits and outreach

Mann described the state's homestead-audit requirement created in special session (identified in discussion as the 88th Special Session). TCAD audited roughly 80,000 accounts in its first round; about 4% of audited accounts lost their exemptions after the audit and verification process. Mann said the audit effort uncovered both instances of ineligibility and households who qualify for homestead exemptions but had not filed: "We estimate there are about 2,000 people within the City of Pflugerville that don't have a homestead exemption, but qualify," she said, noting the office has done outreach and will hold an exemption clinic on Aug. 2 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Pflugerville Public Library to help residents who may qualify.

Reporting error discovered and corrected

Mann also described an error in a subdistrict base-year report (the transcript labels it as a "TIRS" or similar reporting issue): a base-year value was initially reported incorrectly and was corrected in April 2024. She said TCAD completed a countywide audit of similar reporting and found the problem to be isolated to the Pflugerville subdistrict; staff set new monthly checks and procedures to prevent recurrence.

What happens next

Mann told council that TCAD expected to certify the county appraisal roll on July 18 and send letters to the city by July 23 with the certified values and supporting materials. She offered to provide additional, more detailed breakdowns on requests from council members.

Speakers quoted in this article are taken from the council work session transcript and are restricted to the list of speakers provided below.

Ending

Mann left TCAD's memo and supporting tables with staff; she said staff would follow up with additional requested breakdowns, historical comparisons, and guidance as state offices issue formal interpretation of HB9.