Central Texas Real Estate Blog

What to Do If You Think Your Texas Property Tax Appraisal is Unfair

Many homeowners in Central Texas have suffered from “sticker shock” when receiving their 2022 tax appraisals.  In Travis County, many properties in certain areas have appraised for up to 42%-50% more than in previous years. If you as a property owner disagree with the amount that your property appraised for, it makes sense to file a dispute and have the appraisal evaluated by the Appraisal Review Board in your county. This year, the filing deadline was May 16^th.

Reasons to Protest Your Texas Property Tax Appraisal

Some of the reasons a property owner in Central Texas may choose to dispute their property tax bill are if they believe that the property was unequally compared, the value proposed is too high, or exemptions were denied by the County Appraiser.

If your property was valued at more than 1 billion dollars, you may file an appeal.

How do I file an appeal?

Within 30 days of receiving your notice of the appraisal review board order, you must file a Notice of Appeal by Property Owner form with the chief appraiser of the county that you live in. The chief appraiser will then forward your appeal to The State Office of Administrative Hearings.

The costs involved for filing

A $1,500 deposit payable to the State Office of Administrative Hearings has to be paid within 90 days of receiving your appraisal review board order. This deposit includes the $300 filing fee for your appeal. If the deposit is not paid within 90 days, your appeal will be dismissed. You will not get your hearing with the SOAH. If the contested issues are resolved outside of a hearing, the deposit less the $300 filing fee will be refunded to the property owner.

The hearing will be presided over by an administrative law judge who will make the determination as to the market or appraised value of your property.

If the judge determines that the property is valued closer to the dollar amount that has been stated by the property owner in the Notice of Appeal by Property Owner, rather than the value determined by the appraisal review board, the full deposit of $1,500 will be refunded to the property owner and all expenses associated with the hearing will be paid by the appraisal district.

 In the event the judge determines that the property value is closer to the value determined by the ARB, the deposit will be kept by the State Office of Administrative Hearings. All costs of the hearing that are not covered by the $1,500 deposit will be paid by the property owner who filed the appeal. The cost will include the administrative law judge expenses including travel, $128 hourly rate and other related expenses.

If the property owner and the appraisal review board arrive at a settlement before the administrative judge makes a determination, the cost will be assessed based on the property value agreed upon and other considerations.

What to expect after a protest is submitted?

1.        You will get written notice of your hearing at least 15 days prior to the date it is set. This hearing will be with the chief appraiser, you and the ARB to discuss exemptions, special appraisals and objections.
2.        Prior to the date of the formal hearing, the property owner can request an informal hearing to try to resolve the objection.
3.        If you wish to appear by phone or video conference, you may do so for arguments and evidence via affidavit. You must make this request 10 days prior to the hearing. You may also appear in person or provide evidence via affidavit without appearance.
4.        Rulings made by the board will be sent to you through the mail or by email.
5.        If you disagree with the ruling, you may file an appeal with the district court or appeal the determination to a binding agreement or to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

How to file an appeal for property tax in Central Texas

For Travis County homeowners:

•          Online protest forms can be filed at www.traviscad.org/efile.
•          Forms can be mailed to PO Box 149012, Austin, Texas 78714.
•          Forms can be dropped off at 850 E. Anderson Ln., Austin, Texas 78752

For Williamson County homeowners:

•          Online protest forms can be filed at wcad.org.
•          Forms can be mailed or dropped off at 625 FM 1460, Georgetown, Texas 78726

For Hays County homeowners:

•          Protest forms can be submitted in the online appeals portal on hayscad.com.
•          Protest forms can be emailed to protest@hayscad.com.
•          Forms can be faxed to (512) 713-0563
•          Forms can be mailed or delivered to 21001 N. I-35, Kyle, Texas 78640.

Before you file an appeal, be aware that there are several determining factors for achieving a successful appeal.

•          Be sure to file your documents on time and that they are filled out correctly
•          Be on time for your hearing
•          Be familiar with the ARB hearing procedures
•          Organize your information for presentation
•          Stay calm and offer fact based, supported information
•          Do not offer emotional arguments

If you are buying or selling a home in the Central Texas area, contact the experts at Crawford Realty Group to learn more or arrange a showing. If you'd like to have homes for sale in these areas emailed to you, sign up for our free home finder service and specify which types of homes you'd like to receive updates about.

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• Texas Property Tax (2)
• tax appeal hays county (1)
• property tax appeals (1)
• tax appeal travis county (1)
• tax appeal williamson county (1)