Program on Polk CAD reflects continued growth

The Polk Central Appraisal District’s Chief Appraiser Chad Hill and Chief Deputy Shaun Walker recently provided a program for the Rotary Club of Livingston. Hill has 22 years’ experience and Walker has 16 years’ experience.

Reviewing general information about the Polk CAD, Hill said there are 17 employees that includes nine appraisers, three customer service employees and five deeds, mapping, data entry and system administration employees.

He reported that in the last five years, there have been 24,243 formal protests filed and 37,679 informal protests filed.

Hill reviewed the growth statistics for the last five years. There have been 2,496 new homes in the last five years, from 23,033 in 2021 to 25,529 in 2026. Additionally, there have been 549 new mobile homes in the last five years, from 3,575 in 2021 to 4,124 in 2026.

Hill said there is over $100 million annually in new construction resulting in new value of $681 million in the last five years and $1.2 billion in the last 10 years.

He presented the average market and taxable values of properties as follows:

Polk County

• 2021 average homestead market $152,334 taxable $146,615
• 2026 average homestead market $232,975 taxable $174,948

Livingston ISD

• 2021 average homestead market $162,805 taxable $132,531
• 2026 average homestead market $246,423 taxable $120,750

Big Sandy ISD

• 2021 average homestead market $116,065 taxable $65,540
• 2026 average homestead market $192,172 taxable $48,839

Goodrich ISD

• 2021 average homestead market $94,313 taxable $67,784
• 2026 average homestead market $174,023 taxable $57,816

Leggett ISD

• 2021 average homestead market $118,573 taxable $90,305
• 2026 average homestead market $204,472 taxable $84,939

Onalaska ISD

• 2021 average homestead market $164,551 taxable $135,886
• 2026 average homestead market $240,186 taxable $119,311

A comparison of adjoining counties for 2026 reflects the following:

• Polk County has 89,223 parcels, 17 employees and a $2,087,453 budget.
• San Jacinto County has 46,000 parcels, 16 employees and a $1,837,163 budget.
• Angelina County has 70,481 parcels, 21 employees and a $2,686,900 budget.
• Liberty County has 155,223 parcels, 42 employees and a $5,370,724 budget.
• Hardin County has 60,131 parcels, 19 employees and a $2,656,472 budget.
• Trinity County has 29,000 parcels, 15 employees and a $1,151,300 budget.

As for what’s next at Polk CAD, Hill said the office is preparing for growth in several ways, including expansion of the appraisal review board members to run two panels; additional software; more frequent aerial photography; and retrofitting the current file room to allow for additional employees.

As for what’s next statewide, Hill said “we just don’t know. Expansion of current school homestead exemption? Continued tax rate compression? Expansion of various value limitations? Modifications of state procedure and value audits? We just don’t know.”

Walker gave brief tutorial on navigating the Polk CAD website at polkcad.org which includes forms and documentation, as well as property owner request forms, and property search and interactive maps.

“We’ve had 1,151 requests since November 2023. We’ve seen people using this online request form which is what we want,” Walker said.