Angela Bellard, chief appraiser for the Jefferson County Appraisal District, said many property owners can’t get estimates for repairs from contractors for their homes following Tropical Storm Harvey. So the next best course of action is for the homeowners to take photographs of the damages to their home.

“Everyone was affected countywide,” Bellard said. “For damages that still exist on Jan. 1 it will still be on their account for the year. They will get the benefit for the entire year, but they have to get the information to us. The sooner they get it to us, the better.”

In fact, the JCAD has sent a letter to residents stating for the 2018 tax year, their office will appraise all flood-damaged properties based on their condition as of Jan. 1, 2018. Appraisers, however, will not have access to the interior of properties and damages may not be apparent from the exterior, from the street or from the air.

“In order for us to determine the damages to your property as of Jan. 1, 2018, it will be important for you to submit photos and/or complete the Damage Questionnaire mailed with this letter reporting any unrepaired or un-replaced damage,” it read. “Adjustments will be made based on the date-stamped photos and the information you provide in the questionnaire.”

The JCAD asks property owners to make sure they submit the required information, such as the amount of rising water their property experienced, date-stamped photos of the property between Dec. 26, 2017 and Jan. 8, 2018, dates when their business was closed or their home was unoccupied, estimates to repair or replace supplied to property owners by contractors, and any invoices for repairs made.

In order for the market value of the property to reflect those damages on a 2018 Notice of Appraised Value, the JCAD is asking property owners to complete this survey and provide the documentation of their damages to the JCAD office between Jan. 1, and Feb. 28. You may either mail in the completed questionnaire, bring it to the office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., or email it.

The Jefferson County Appraisal District’s contact information is:

• Mailing address: PO Box 21337, Beaumont TX 77720
• Physical address: 4610 S Fourth St., Beaumont TX
• Email: harveydamages@jcad.org
• Telephone: 409-840-9944 or 727-4611

The JCAD will continue to accept information on flood damages after Feb. 28; however, the property owner’s Notice of Appraised Value, which the JCAD anticipates mailing in mid-April, will not reflect the property owner’s damages.

After Notices of Appraised Value are mailed, it will be necessary for the property owner to file a protest of their valuation in order for appraisers to review flood damages.

All flood damages need to be reported to our office by the protest deadline, which is May 15.

Allison Nathan Getz, tax assessor-collector for Jefferson County, said though taxpayers can protest their appraisal values the remainder of the year, they still have to pay for public services such as police, fire, cities, education, etc.

“This doesn’t go away if we have a natural disaster,” Nathan Getz said.

Consequently, the tax office enables residents who received damages to pay quarterly throughout the year as residents over the age of 65 and the disabled do.

They can make payments in January, March, May and July.

“It’s an opportunity to split up payments instead of all at once, but people will have to fill out a form and provide proof of damage. You don’t need a certain amount of damage to qualify,” she said. “This will give relief to some people.”