If you’re a Port Aransas property owner, you probably have just received a notice in the mail stating the appraised value of your property, or you will soon.

If that annual notice from the Nueces County Appraisal District leaves you with questions about the appraisal process, it might be a good idea to make a visit to an upcoming workshop on valuations.

City and county officials will lead the town hall-style meeting, to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at council chambers in Port Aransas City Hall, 710 W. Avenue A.

Folks who attend will have a chance to ask questions and voice concerns about appraisals, said Mayor Keith McMullin, one of the officials expected to be on hand at the meeting.

Also expected at the meeting are Jay Reynolds, assistant chief appraiser at the Appraisal District, and Ken Combs, taxpayer liaison officer at the district.

This will be the fifth year that the workshops have been held in Port Aransas. It’s the third year that appraisal district employees have traveled here from Corpus Christi to help out at the meetings.

Property tax valuations are being mailed this week, and property owners have until May 31 to file written challenges to the valuations, Combs said. The workshop will, among other things, help folks understand how to go about filing challenges.

The appraisal district doesn’t have the resources to go out and look at every house in the county before coming up with valuations, so the agency uses what is known as a “mass appraisal” to determine values.

A mass appraisal is “an attempt to look at all properties, generally, without making particular walkthroughs of this or that property,” Combs said.

But, with that method, there’s no way for the appraisal district to know whether, for instance, a recent kitchen fire damaged the interior of a house and significantly devalued the structure, he said. That’s why it’s important for property owners to be proactive and let the appraisal district know about factors that could result in lower valuations.

People who file challenges go before the district’s Appraisal Review Board, which consists of appointees who represent various taxing districts within the county. The board makes decisions about whether the district will lower a valuation or keep it the same.

Attending the upcoming workshop could be a good move, Combs said.

“I think people’s knowledge will be increased substantially, and that’s really the name of the game,” Combs said. “The more knowledge you have, the better you chance you have to represent yourself and prove the value of your property.”

Comments? Questions? Contact Dan Parker at (361) 749- 5131 or dan@portasouthjetty.com