11:55 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2006

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA-TV

WFAA

The ad is airing across Texas

Today is the deadline for Texas homeowners to protest the market value put on their homes which determines how much they pay in property taxes.

Governor Perry is claiming in new TV ads that school taxes for the average homeowner will be going down $2,000 because of the school finance law that he just signed.

But finding the average homeowner isn't easy.

Homeowners crowd inside the Dallas Central Appraisal District ready to protest the higher new values assigned to their homes.

It's never a sure thing they'll succeed and these tax hawks say it's not a sure thing what the governor is telling them either.

"I think they're just telling us that but I don't think it's going to go down," said one homeowner.

"I'm not holding my breath, no," said another.

In a new TV ad by Governor Perry's re-election campaign, Perry makes a straightforward claim.

"We kept our promises to you. The average homeowner will receive a $2,000 tax cut."

But how the governor's campaign came up with that figure is being questioned.

First, look at the small print that says the $2,000 is over three years.

Perry's campaign says it based the reduction on the average home sales price in Texas of $180,000.

But that's higher than appraised market values, where in Dallas County the average is just over $140,000.

Subtract for homestead and other exemptions and the taxable value drops to a little over $106,000.

Calculating the school tax cut from the taxable value means the average homeowner in Dallas County would save $1,245, not $2,000.

And this is based on the unlikely assumption that values remain static.

"There's going to be a lot of ad watch clarifications on television and in the press and the governor will have to back track and explain wherein he made his claims and why they're being challenged," said political analyst Cal Jillson.

A spokesman for Perry's campaign says it stands by the ad's claim and that the ad will be airing for some time across Texas.