CHERYL E . JOHNSON , PCC Galveston County Tax Assessor Collector

& Voter Registrar

cheryl . E . Johnson @ co . galveston . tx . us

that is damaged at least 15 % and up to 100 % in a Governor declared disaster area to receive a temporary exemption of a portion of the appraised value of the property . A property owner must apply for the exemption no later than 105 days after the governor declares a disaster area ( TS Beta declaration was 9.21.2020 ) thus the 105th deadline date would be January 4 , 2021 .

Qualified property includes personal property used for income production , improvements to real property and certain manufactured homes . Property owners must submit documentation ( from FEMA , insurance company , an office of emergency management , or other reliable source ) along with the application ( available online at www . galcotax . com on the homepage under Hot Topics ).

The chief appraiser must send written notice of the approval , modification or denial of the application no later than five days after making the determination . The exemption expires January 1 of the first tax year in which the property is reappraised thus would not apply to property values in 2021 . Applications and documentation should be mailed or emailed to the appropriate county appraisal district as follows :

Galveston CAD 9850 EF Lowry Expressway Texas City , Texas 77591 gcad @ galvestoncad . org

Harris CAD 13013 Northwest Freeway Houston , Texas 77040 Help @ hcad . org

Upon receipt of an application , the chief appraiser determines if the property qualifies for the temporary exemption and assigns a damage assessment rating of Level I , II , III or IV , described as shown below :

The damage assessment rating determines the percentage of appraised value to be exempted . The amount of the exemption is determined by multiplying the property value , after applying the damage assessment rating , to a fraction ( 365 ÷ the number of days remaining in the tax year after the date of the disaster declaration ).

Temporary disaster exemptions became law after 85 % of Texas voters approved Proposition 3 November 5 , 2019 ( The Constitutional Amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster ). The exemption is automatic in the event a government had not adopted a tax rate before the disaster is declared .

According to the enabling legislation , a government that has already adopted a tax rate must vote to grant the exemption within 60 days of the disaster declaration . For Tropical Storm Beta , the deadline is November 20 , 2020 . The deadline to apply for the exemption for the adopting governments is 45 days after adoption , thus deadlines could differ . The Galveston County Chief Appraiser will utilize the January 4th deadline for all applicants .

Any and every property owner harmed by Tropical Storm Beta should apply for this taxpayer friendly temporary exemption by January 4 , 2021 .

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