Harris County officials recently announced that they will take recent damage caused by Hurricane Harvey into account when assessing property values to determine property taxes for 2018.

State officials are currently estimating that nearly 100,000 residents suffered home damage. However, Jack Barnett, who is with the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD), said he doesn’t expect every home to be inspected, but every neighborhood will be reviewed.  

“It’s definitely going to be more challenging for us because we’re going to really have to look at values after Harvey and look at whether property has been damaged,” he said to Houston Public Media.

In order to ensure that hurricane damage is used in valuing their homes, homeowners should inform HCA by phone at 713-812-5805, emailing help@hcad.org or using the HCAD app. The updated app allows homeowners to report flood, tornado or roof damage quickly by identifying where the damage occurred and options for the amount of water, an estimate of damage caused by a tornado or roof leaks, and a section for fire damage.

“The appraisal district can use this information to identify the most damaged neighborhoods and properties to help the homeowner next year when the property is reappraised January 1 by possibly reducing the value because of existing damage or ongoing repair work,” said Roland Altinger, chief appraiser at HCAD.