appraisal district info

June 17th, 2009 7:32 AM

this article was taken from todays paper.  New construction in Smith County dipped 16 percent countywide in 2009 according to preliminary numbers released by the Smith County Appraisal District.

Smith County Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Michael Barnett said new construction has slowed for the county as a whole, while local taxing entities experienced growth, declines and static new construction appraisals.

Barnett said new construction values around the county represent a "mixed bag" of good and bad news for new construction values in local jurisdictions.

Revenues to be generated from new construction are separated from the taxable value calculations, Barnett said. Appraisal rolls will be certified and the effective roll-back rate will be calculated, according to taxable values and new construction values, in the later part of July, he said.

The city of Tyler and TISD, despite an economic crunch for others, both enjoyed significant growth in new construction. New construction appraisals grew from more than $192 million to $225 million from 2008 for the city and from more than $210.7 million to $230.2 million for TISD.

"It's nicely distributed throughout the entire community," he said. "There was something being developed north, south, east and west that makes for a very nice confirmation that our local economy is pretty balanced and doing well."

New commercial development, including hotels such as the Sleep Inn & Suites on Donnybrook Avenue, restaurants such as Newk's, Buffalo Wild Wings and the Jalapeno Tree and commercial additions such as Academy Sports, drove those increases, Barnett said.

Where Tyler experienced "strong growth" other jurisdictions did not fair as well, he said.

Fewer new rooftops after years of "phenomenal" growth resulted in a $36.7 million decline for Whitehouse ISD, from more than $74 million to $37.4 million in 2008, Barnett said.

The city of Lindale saw new construction cut nearly in half since 2008 despite a double-digit increase in taxable value, almost 12 percent, due to growth and the expiration of tax abatements for the Target distribution center, Barnett said. Lindale and Lindale ISD taxable value for new construction dropped from $11.7 million to $5.4 million and $38.1 to $18 million, respectively.

Lindale City Administrator Owen Scott said the declining numbers are not a concern for the near future. He said the city has boomed with new construction since 2006 and that the city expects new projects to pick up in the coming months.

Scott said most of the residential construction is occurring outside the city limits and that commercial construction including banks, restaurants, hotels and strip malls had been strong, but builders have become cautious in an uncertain economy.

Builders "have really been in a hold mode, wait and see, but I think it's going to break loose again pretty soon," he said. "We're still looking for good things to happen. We're still very optimistic."

Smith County Judge Joel Baker said, in spite of declines, the county will exercise caution and, with wise planning, will not face a crisis.

"We are fortunate to have strong tax base in Smith County," he said. "While we are not anticipating the same increases in revenue we've enjoyed in recent years, we are not anticipating the overall shortfalls that some taxing entities are experiencing."

Baker said he expected new construction numbers to bounce back over the next few years and the county would continue to budget conservatively while planning for the future.

Barnett said though Texas and Smith County had not suffered as much as other states and parts of the nation during the economic slump, a return to previous years' growth would depend on consumer confidence. He said it was reasonable to anticipate that next year's numbers would not increase based on expectations of a "continued slow in the market."

"It all boils down to there's just not as much new construction going on than in the past," he said.

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