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Williamson Central Appraisal District outlines property values, homestead audits and legislative changes
Summary
Williamson Central Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Alvin Lankford presented the district's 2025 preliminary market values, explained a new homestead-audit process required by state tax code, and summarized several state bills that will affect taxpayers if approved by voters or signed into law.
Alvin Lankford, chief appraiser for the Williamson Central Appraisal District (WCAD), briefed the Williamson County Commissioners Court on June 3 on the district's preliminary 2025 market values, a new homestead-audit process and several legislative changes affecting local taxpayers.
Lankford said WCAD's preliminary total market value rose to about $184.69 billion, a figure that includes both existing property growth and new improvements. "This is preliminary. This is not after protests have been settled," Lankford told the court. He said residential value has crested and new-improvement growth accounted for several billion in added taxable value.
On homestead compliance, Lankford described a change in state law, which he referenced as tax code 11.43(h-1), that directs appraisal districts to audit homesteaded properties on a five-year cycle. He said the audit will flag a small percentage of properties for reapplication and that most homeowners need not take action unless they receive a notice. "That's only about 4% of the properties within the county," Lankford said. He warned that private companies are marketing homestead-monitoring services and charging up to 25% of a homeowner's savings for filing assistance; WCAD staff said filing takes three to five minutes on the district website and videos are posted to help taxpayers.
Lankford reviewed legislative items affecting local taxpayers: Senate Bill 4 (a proposed ballot measure to increase the school homestead exemption to $140,000), House Bill 9 (raising the business personal property exemption to $125,000), and Senate Bill 973 (expanding transparency to allow sketches and aerial or street-level imagery on appraisal district websites). Lankford said the homestead exemption measure would apply only to school districts and, if approved by voters in November, would take effect for the January 2026 levy.
He also described litigation trends: the number of lawsuits filed against appraisal districts has surged since 2022, driven primarily by commercial accounts, producing higher litigation expenses and prompting WCAD to hire an in-house attorney to manage case volume.
Lankford demonstrated WCAD's public-facing tools and said the appraisal notice contains a QR code linking to a property dashboard. He highlighted a sales-comparison grid that WCAD provides to approximately 90% of residential property notices and said the district has made that information available to help taxpayers understand how values are derived.
Ending: Commissioners did not take action on the presentation; Lankford said WCAD will finalize values after protests are resolved and encouraged taxpayers to use the district website to view notices and file homestead exemptions.
