Property tax appraisals for the current year’s taxable values are issued in the spring in all counties. Below are a few tips to help in understanding your statement and for filing a protest if you disagree
with the appraised value.
After you Receive your Notice of Appraised Value
- First, verify that the appraisal is for the correct property and make sure that any exemptions you are eligible for (i.e. homestead,over 65, etc.) are included.
- If the value of your property seems higher than what the market in your neighborhood would bear, you do have the option of protesting that value to see if the appraisal district will lower it.
- NOTE: Your local appraiser is required to appraise the property at market value as of January 1st, so your appraisal should reflect the value of the property at that time. The appraiser generally uses mass appraisal criteria based on the individual characteristics of your property, and in most cases, doesnʼt actually do a physical inspection of the property.
Protesting your Appraisal Value
- Protests must be filed in writing. The appraisal district has protest forms available, but itʼs not required to use an official form. As long as the written notice of protest identifies the owner, the property, and states that the owner disagrees with the valuation made by the appraisal district, then you can file your protest.
- File your notice of protest by May 31 or no later than 30 days after the date of the Notice of Appraised Value, whichever date is later. If you donʼt file a notice of protest before the Appraisal Review Board approves the appraisal record, you lose your right to protest or file a lawsuit.
- Information to support your protest: Provide your closing statement from your home purhase, a copy of the purchase contract, any appraisals, engineerʼs reports, etc. to the board when protesting your value. Photos of defects on the property are also helpful. Your real estate agent can assist you in compiling a comparable market analysis for your property to show how it would be priced if you were to sell the property.
- Who decides? The Appraisal district board (ARB) is an independent board of citizens that hears property owner protests and they have the power to order the Appraisal District to make changes. If you file a written protest before the deadline, your case will be scheduled for a hearing with one or more members of the ARB. The ARB has several options: grant your request, refer you to a hearing of the entire board, schedule a physical inspection of your property, or deny your request. If you are denied, you have the option of filing a lawsuit against the Appraisal District.