Webb County Appraisal District projects small growth for Laredo ISD; homestead exemptions could cut taxable rolls

Bobby Paragoy, chief appraiser for the Webb County Appraisal District, told the Laredo ISD Board of Trustees that preliminary 2025 market value for properties in the district stands at about $6.3 billion, a roughly 2% increase from last year.

Paragoy said that figure is a pre-protest estimate and that the district typically sees about a 1% swing downward after protests are resolved. "I'm estimating that you guys will land somewhere around 5,960,000,000 once it's all said and done," Paragoy said.

The appraisal chief said residential accounts make up the plurality of parcel counts (about 71% of accounts) and that homeowners supply almost 43% of the district's taxable value. He also noted Laredo ISD holds a high share of exempt property — city and county buildings and similar parcels — representing nearly 30% of the appraisal roll by count, which reduces the district's taxable base.

Paragoy reviewed historical trends, saying market values surged after the COVID-19 period but are now cooling. He pointed to a drop in taxable value in 2023 tied to the state-mandated $100,000 homestead exemption and warned that two pieces of state legislation on file could enlarge exemptions further: one to raise the mandatory homestead exemption to $140,000 and another to raise the over-65 exemption to $200,000. "Once the governor signs them, I will implement those new exemption amounts on my side," Paragoy said, adding the measures could be codified by a public vote in November.

He also provided local details: new value generated in Laredo ISD was lower in 2025 (roughly $25 million in new structures) than the prior year (about $57 million), while countywide new value was near a record $899 million, driven largely by residential and warehouse development. Paragoy said approximately 3,000 acres of industrial land are currently slated for development countywide.

Paragoy described appraisal practice, noting he is required by state law to appraise within a 95%–105% confidence interval and that the comptroller's office audits appraisal districts every odd-numbered year. He said Webb County Appraisal District's most recent performance score was about 0.9647—inside the acceptable range—meaning the district received the maximum state funding available under those local appraisals.

Board members asked no substantive follow-up questions during the presentation; Paragoy concluded by offering to take questions after the regular meeting.

Paragoy's presentation was moved earlier on the agenda at the request of the board, and the appraisal figures he presented were explicitly described as preliminary and subject to change through protests and subsequent audits.