Cameron County residents are saying appraisal value of their home increased by as much as 100% compared to last year, and they’re working to appeal them.

Harlingen homeowner Jesus Flores was among those protesting the new property value. He said his home went up in value from $260,000 to $400,000.

“They've gone up in previous years, you know, 10%, 20% maybe, but not 100 percent or 150% in some cases,” Flores said.

Cameron County's chief appraiser — Richard Molina — said his office normally between 12 and 13 thousand people protest their property tax appraisal each year. He predicts that number could jump to 15,000 appeals this year.

“The source that is used to determine market value is actually sales data that we gather throughout the whole county for all the properties that are sold,” Molina explained, adding that the sales data being used was collected from January through December 2022. 

“There was a lot of sales during 2022 and there was a lot of high sale volume,” Molina said. “The sale volume of the amount of dollars that people are paying for a home these days is much higher than what they were paying in 2021, and the prior years to that."

The deadline to appeal your new property value is Wednesday, May 31.

Information on how to appeal can be found at the Cameron County Appraisal District's website.