(Community Matters) Austin, AISD and Travis County should institute a process of suing commercial property owners who sue to lower tax appraisals and then sell their properties for substantially more than the lowered assessments. At the very least, any negotiated lowered assessments should include a clawback provision to recapture the lost property tax revenue if the property is sold for a higher price within some window of time. AAS Large Companies Turn to Courts for Tax Relief.
Last year, for example, through a protest to the appraisal district, Advanced Micro Devices got its valuation lowered for a third consecutive year by about $13 million, and its appraised “market value” now stands at $127.5 million. Yet in April, the company sold its complex for $164 million — $37.5 million more than the taxable value that AMD was disputing as too high.
Community Matters 