Opinion ID: 1620577
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: First Sentence

Text: Further, we find no absolute requirement in the first sentence of section 193.016 that the appraiser follow the VAB's assessment. As Judge Benton wrote in his dissent, section 193.016 . . . requires only that the property appraiser `consider' what the valuation adjustment board did the year before (assuming no successful appeal)[; it] is not a directive to arrive at any assessment that does not represent just valuation. Id. at 622. We agree. Rather than being unreasonable or arbitrary, it would appear that consideration of such circumstances would be relevant to the property appraiser's current just value determination in much the same way that section 193.011(8) requires consideration of the recent sale of the property. As noted above, by this requirement it appears that the Legislature is simply mandating that a relevant circumstance, i.e., a determination of just value by a lawfully constituted body, the VAB, be considered. We do not find it unreasonable or arbitrary, or more importantly, violative of the just value provisions of article VII, section 4 for the Legislature to require consideration of this circumstance. Presumably, for example, a wise tax appraiser would not ignore his or her most recent appraisal of the property's just value or a court decision on the same issue. Why should he or she likewise not consider the VAB's recent decision?