"Historic Landmark" designation - is it worth it? (Austin: house, neighborhoods)

[TheCardinal]

The recent round of crazy appraisals from TCAD has renewed our interest in getting an Historic Landmark designation on our house. I've done a little looking around and I think I understand the basic process and I'm generally aware of the tax break on City taxes, but I'd love to hear if others have had positive or negative experiences. Based on the age and history of our house I feel pretty confident that our property would qualify under the City guidelines (other neighbors have qualified recently as well), but I'm cautious about doing it because I know it limits our ability to change the exterior in the future. That's the trade-off, I know. My questions:

1. In percentage terms, what's the total average tax break on our property tax bill? I've heard it's around 40% -- does that sound right?

2. What is the City's approach to granting approvals to change the exterior? I've heard that they frown on changes to the street view (no surprise) but are fairly liberal in allowing changes to the back of the house. Is that right?

3. Does the City have any plans to change the Historic Landmark ordinance anytime soon? In the coming years will they be more likely to grant these designations (to preserve the historic nature of these neighborhoods) or less likely (because it takes property value off the tax rolls). Anyone have a view on that?

Anyone have other relevant experience with this?

[TheCardinal]

Anybody?

[centralaustinite]

Do you have a neighborhood list serve? It sounds like that might be the best place for you to get advice from people who have done it, and you might also find some opposing or contrasting viewpoints. I live in a newer house in a central neighborhood and our list serve has certainly had lively discussions about it in the past.

[BentBow]

Once you do that, you will be very limited on what you can and can't do to your property.

[CptnRn]

The general description of Historic Zoning is described here:

City of Austin - Development Process: Zoning, Part 2

It would be wise to read what the Land Development Code says about it here:
Chapter 25 of the Land Development Code, Sections 2-4-531 through 535, 25-2-171, 25-2-351, 25-2-352, 25-2-354, 25-2-355, 25-2-357, 25-2-358.

American Legal Publishing: Online Library

[GreenPlastic]

TheCardinal - We had our house designated historical a little over a year back. It's in your neighborhood and the group that we purchased from drove it through the process with the city, so I can't help you with that aspect.

1. Taxes were cut around 60%. This was a lot more than I expected, although the Homestead Exemption may be included in that...I cannot remember if it had that before we moved in...I'm thinking not. Also, I think value of the house would factor in...isn't the city portion maxed out at 200k off the value? A more expensive home would see less of a break by %.

2. I've heard the same thing as you but haven't tested it. I am about to ask the city for guidance on a very minor change to our front exterior...we'll see. We want to add-on to our house, so we'll test this at some point.

3. When I did my research when we bought our house, I thought I found some material that indicated the tax break was being brought down (this was a few years back). I'm not sure that constitutes a trend though. As long as the historic designation isn't abused, I don't see why they would make it harder but you never know in this town.

One downside if you get it and decide down the road that it isn't worth it...you have to pay the last 3 years worth of tax savings back to the city. Considering the tax savings can easily be 10k+ per year, that's a healthy one-time check to the city. Let me know if you have any questions.