Matagorda and Calhoun County Property Taxes
How to deal with the necessary evil of property taxes in Matagorda County Texas: A how to research property taxes guide.
In today’s day and age information is the key resource in any business transaction. Make no mistake about it, buying a home, Condo or other real estate is in fact the most important business deal many people will ever face.
There is good news however: never before in history has the average citizen had the power of the internet search engines to enable them to acquire piles of information on the wanted property, its developer, location and value. This article will deal with property taxes.
As many of you already know Texas has no income taxes and the state’s primary source of income is sales and property taxes, I will attempt in layman’s terms to show you how to find out the exact total tax rate for a specific property you are interested in.
Generally Texas tax rates are expressed in dollar amounts per thousand dollars of appraised value. For example if I told you your total tax rate for your property is $1.50 that would be a dollar fifty for each thousand dollars of appraised value. If your property appraised for $100,000 your property taxes would be ($1.50) X ($100,000) =$1500 per year then divide by 12 months in a year would equal $125.00 a month.
Heck that’s simple you might say and it is. However, in Texas there are many taxing units that make it difficult to determine the exact dollar amount of the tax rate on a specific piece of property.
These units consist of cities, counties, special taxing units (fire, ambulance, police, and community colleges) and school districts. So the location of a piece of property within these districts determines the tax rate for that particular piece of property.
Ok with that behind us lets by example look up a specific piece of property in Matagorda County, Texas. You may not realize it but the amount paid by citizens as property tax is a matter of public record and available on the internet.
Yes you can look up Uncle Bills house or that loudmouth down at the factory’s house and see what it appraises for and how much the taxes are and whether uncle Bill has paid his taxes. Nosey bunches aren’t we? Let’s get started.
If you click on link the
Matagorda CAD Live you will see a page like this:
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Select the year first. In my example I have selected 2007.
Now looking at the page to the left,it is obvious we need either the property's address or the owner's name both of which you can get from the realtor or if the realtor doesn’t want to give you the owner's name at least you can get the address.
So whose house /property are we going to look up?
Might as well be some politician I suppose so let me suggest the Mayor of Bay City, Texas, Richard Knapik .
Under Owner Name:
Type in Knapik Richard and hit the search button |
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You should now see the same results as the picture on the left indicates.
To view property tax details click on the Prop ID number: 30705. |
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Once you click on the Property ID number you will be able to see the details as follows:
See the total tax rate figure of $2.42815. That’s $2.42815 per thousand in Texas Tax lingo.
(That’s for 2008 so the appraisals are not in yet nor have the taxes been assessed. I wouldn’t want you all to get the idea that there are no taxes on the property.)
So we have learned how to find the tax rate for any property in Matagorda County by using the owners name or the address. The taxes on our 100,000 home without exemptions would be $2428.15 per year if it was located next to the mayor’s house. |
Tax information is a valuable consideration when purchasing or looking to purchase real property.
Now you have the tools available online to get the tax rates for yourself. You can also use the addresses to research appraised value comparables in the neighborhood of any property you are looking interested in.
For more information on Texas Property Taxes you should read the main article on Texas Gulf Coast online. You may do that by clicking here. If you have any property tax questions post them below and I will try to answer them for you.
Have a good summer!
Matagorda County Appraisal District
| Chief Appraiser |
Board of Directors |
Appraisal Review Board (ARB) Members |
Mr. Vince Maloney
Address
2225 Ave. G
Bay City, TX 77414-5018
Phone: 979-244-2031
Web site: www.trueautomation.com |
Malcolm Romine(Chair)
Phone: 979-244-2031
Warren Criswell
Cristyn Hallmark
Vic Kahlich
Bobbie Shreve
Stephen Zapalac; |
John Ashcraft
Don Hyett
Terry Mosier
Frank Charleston
Bill Isaacson
Erwin Ward
Kelsey Granberry
Benny Judkins
Rick Higgins |
Active Taxing Units:
158-000-00 Matagorda County
158-901-02 Bay City Independent School District
158-902-02 Tidehaven Independent School District
158-904-02 Matagorda Independent School District
158-905-02 Palacios Independent School District
158-906-02 Van Vleck Independent School District
241-901-02 X Boling Independent School District (Wharton CAD)
158-101-03 City of Bay City
158-102-03 City of Palacios
158-202-04 Caney Creek MUD
158-203-04 Beach Road MUD
158-201-06 Coastal Plains Groundwater Conservation District
158-201-08 Matagorda County DD #1
158-202-08 Matagorda County DD #2
158-203-08 Matagorda County DD #3
158-204-08 Matagorda County DD #4
158-201-11 Matagorda County HD
158-201-12 Palacios Area Seawall Commission District
158-201-18 Matagorda County Navigation District #1
158-203-18 Port of Bay City Authority
158-201-19 Matagorda County WCID #2
158-203-19 Matagorda County WCID #6
158-204-19 Matagorda County WCID #5
158-201-28 Matagorda County C&RD
Calhoun County Appraisal District
http://www.calhouncad.org/
| Chief Appraiser |
Board of Directors |
Appraisal Review Board (ARB) Members |
Mr. Phillip Gonzales
Phone:361-552-4560
Fax: 361-552-4787
Email:ah@calhouncad.org
Web site: www.calhouncad.org
Address
P.O. Box 49
Port Lavaca, TX 77979-0049 |
Richard Barton (Chair)
Phone: 361-552-2215
Jesse Briseno
Michael Chavana
Jackson Cross
Virgil E. Martin |
Arthur Bonorden
Benito Pena
Glendon R. Hill
Donald Tyson
Robert Jordan |
Active Taxing Units
029-000-00 Calhoun County
029-901-02 Calhoun County Independent School District 029-101-03 City of Point Comfort
029-102-03 City of Seadrift
029-103-03 City of Port Lavaca
029-201-04 Port O’Connor MUD
029-201-08 Calhoun County DD #6
029-202-08 Calhoun County DD #10
029-203-08 Calhoun County DD #11
029-204-08 Calhoun County DD #8
029-201-18 Calhoun County Navigation District
029-201-19 Calhoun County WCID #1