Your Texas property appraisal notice is the county’s opening position on what your home is worth, and it starts a short, strict clock for disagreeing.
- It goes out by April 1 for homesteads and May 1 for other property, and carries far more required information than most homeowners read.
- Three dollar figures sit on the same page, and only the market value line is the number a protest challenges.
- State law also requires a five-year percent change, a separate breakdown of land and structures, and a blank protest form in the envelope.
- The 20 percent circuit breaker on non-homestead property retires after the 2026 tax year, so spring 2027 notices on rentals and second homes arrive with no cap behind them.
Read the notice the week it arrives, check the market value line against real closed sales, and file your protest rather than deciding whether the increase feels big enough to bother with.
One envelope arrives each spring carrying no payment stub and no amount due, which is exactly why so many Texans set it aside. That envelope holds your Texas property appraisal notice, the county’s proposed value for your property, and it opens the only window in the calendar year for disagreeing with that figure. Everything printed on your fall tax bill is built on the number inside.
That number deserves a hard look in a softening market. Researchers at Texas A&M found that statewide sellers cut prices by a typical 4.5 percent off their original asking price through April 2026, up from 3.9 percent a year earlier. Mass appraisal models lag behind shifts like that, so a value built from last year’s sales can sit above what a buyer will pay today. Understanding how Texas property taxes work starts here.
What Is a Texas Property Appraisal Notice, and Why Did You Get One?
The document is officially titled the Notice of Appraised Value, and it comes from your County Appraisal District (CAD), the local body that values every property in the county. Texas Tax Code Section 25.19 requires the chief appraiser to deliver it by April 1 for a single-family residence that qualifies for a homestead exemption, or by May 1 for other property, or as soon after as practicable.
It is not a bill. Your actual bill arrives months later from the County Tax Assessor-Collector, a separate office, after local taxing entities adopt rates in September and October. The notice tells you what your CAD believes your property was worth as of January 1, the valuation date, no matter when the envelope lands.
Which Situations Require the County to Send One?
Districts do not mail a notice to every owner every year. Under Section 25.19, one is required when your value rose above the previous year, when it exceeds what you reported on a rendition, when the property was not on the appraisal roll the year before, or when an exemption approved last year was canceled or reduced. A district’s board may also skip the notice when an increase comes in at $1,000 or less.
That last trigger is the one homeowners most often miss. A removed homestead, over-65, or disabled veteran exemption brings a notice even if your value barely moved, and it is your warning that taxable value is about to jump. Under Senate Bill 1801, appraisal districts must review each homestead exemption at least once every five years to confirm the owner still qualifies. You do not need to reapply unless your district asks in writing, but if a request arrives, answer it, because ignoring one can end the Texas homestead exemption on your property.
What If Your Property Valuation Notice Never Arrives?
Mail goes astray, and the statute is blunt: failure to receive a notice does not affect the validity of the appraisal, the tax, or the lien. You do not have to wait on paper, because as soon as the chief appraiser delivers a notice, the district must post it on its website as part of the appraisal record. For most Texas homeowners the number is online in early April regardless. Look up your property on your CAD’s site and treat what you find as your working copy of the property valuation notice.
How Do You Read the Values on Your Texas Property Appraisal Notice?
Layouts vary by county, but the required contents do not. Three separate dollar figures appear on the page, they are rarely equal, and confusing them is the most common reason homeowners misjudge whether they have a case. Here is your appraisal notice explained, figure by figure.
The Market Value Line Is What a Protest Challenges
Your notice will show a line labeled “Market Value,” the CAD’s estimate of what your property would sell for under normal conditions as of January 1. Throughout the protest process this figure is called your tax appraised value, because it is the number the county assigns for tax purposes and the number a protest targets.
Both terms describe the same dollar amount, so when your market value notice arrives, that single line is the one to scrutinize. A protest challenges it on either of two grounds: that the figure is higher than what your property would actually sell for, or that it is out of line with what comparable properties are appraised at. Our breakdown of tax appraised value versus market value covers why the two drift apart.
Capped Value and Taxable Value Sit Downstream
Beneath that line you may see a separate “Appraised Value” figure showing a lower amount. Williamson CAD explains that a residence homestead is capped at 10 percent per year plus the value of any new improvements, and that the cap is granted only after the first full calendar year you have owned and occupied the home. Partial years do not count, which catches most recent buyers by surprise.
The last figure in the chain is taxable value, what remains after exemptions come off. Many counties print this as Net Appraised Value, so take care not to read it as the line above. Our guide to how taxable value is calculated walks through the difference.
Land and Structures Are Listed Separately
For real property, the chief appraiser must break out the market value of the land and the total market value of the structures as two distinct lines. Most homeowners skim past this, and it is genuinely useful. If the land number drove your increase, that points toward a neighborhood-wide land schedule adjustment. If the structure number did, it points toward condition, size, or quality ratings on the house itself, which calls for different evidence.
Counties do not use identical labels, which compounds the confusion. Find the wording that appears on your notice and read across.
| Labels you may see | What it represents | Is this the number you protest? |
|---|---|---|
| Market Value, Total Market Value, Total Value | The county’s opinion of what your property would sell for | Yes. This is your tax appraised value. |
| Appraised Value, Capped Value, Assessed Value | The capped figure for a qualified homestead | No |
| Net Appraised Value, Taxable Value, Net Assessed Value | What your tax rate is applied to after exemptions | No |
Every market value notice in Texas is built around that one figure, so if your county’s wording matches none of these, call the appraisal district and ask which line carries it.
What Else Does State Law Require on the Notice?
The values get all the attention, but the rest of the page earns a read too. Section 25.19 requires six more items on every notice, and each one tells you something useful.
- A five-year percent change. For real property, the notice states the percent difference between this year’s tax appraised value and the value five tax years ago.
- Two years of exemptions. It lists the kind and amount of every exemption approved this year and last, plus the dollar amount of anything canceled or reduced.
- A statement about who sets your taxes. In italic type, the notice confirms the Legislature does not set local taxes.
- The informal conference option. It explains the availability and purpose of meeting with the appraisal office before any hearing.
- The ARB start date and a protest form. Every notice carries the date the Appraisal Review Board begins hearings, plus a blank notice of protest form and mailing instructions.
- A school tax ceiling note. Where a ceiling applies for a homeowner 65 or older or with a qualifying disability, the notice must indicate that the preceding year’s school taxes may not be increased.
That last item caps the dollar amount of your school taxes without freezing your tax appraised value, which is a distinction worth understanding. Our guide to the over 65 property tax exemption explains how the amount is set and what it does not cover.
What Changes on the 2027 Property Valuation Notice?
Owners of rentals, second homes, and small commercial property should read their next notice differently than the last three. Since 2024, non-homestead real property below an indexed value threshold has carried a 20 percent circuit breaker capping annual increases in tax appraised value. As Harris CAD notes, the Legislature has only authorized the circuit breaker for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 tax years.
That expiration is printed on the notice itself, because Section 25.19 requires non-homestead notices to warn that the limitation ends December 31, 2026 and may raise taxes afterward unless lawmakers extend it. The line confirming whether a property qualifies also drops off notices beginning January 1, 2027.
So for the 2027 tax year, a rental house or second home has no ceiling on how far its tax appraised value can move in a single year. Homesteads keep the 10 percent cap, and our guide to how Texas caps value increases covers both. For everyone else, the annual protest becomes the only brake left.
What Deadlines Does Your Texas Property Appraisal Notice Trigger?
According to the Texas Comptroller, the filing deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mails your notice, whichever falls later. The clock runs from the mailing date rather than the day you opened the envelope, so a notice mailed April 28 buys you until roughly May 28, while one mailed in mid-March extends nothing past May 15.
After you file, the ARB must send notice of your hearing at least 15 days in advance, and at least 14 days before it the district must send the adopted hearing procedures and a statement telling you that you can request copies of the information it plans to use. Requesting that packet is one of the highest-value moves available, because it reveals which sales the district built its case on. Our overview of the Texas property tax year lays out the full sequence.
What Should You Do After You Read the Notice?
Reading the notice is step one. The following two weeks change the outcome, because the document is only useful if it prompts action before the window closes.
File a Protest Every Year, Without Exception
Protesting annually is worthwhile whether the value looks high, looks fair, or barely moved, and filing costs nothing. For most homeowners, a reduction in tax appraised value flows straight through to a lower bill. A narrower group, typically long-tenured homesteaders whose tax appraised value has outrun the 10 percent cap for years, may find the cap already holds taxable value below the appraised figure, and even then a lower capped value becomes the base next year’s increase is calculated from. That compounding is why protesting every year still pays.
Build the Case on Closed Sales and Written Estimates
Two categories of evidence carry weight. The first is closed comparable sales, homes similar to yours that sold in the twelve months before January 1 of the protest year, adjusted for the differences between them and your property.
Texas does not require sale prices to be publicly recorded, so unverified figures pulled from general real estate websites do not hold up at a hearing. The second is written contractor estimates for condition problems that existed before January 1, since a foundation issue documented in February falls outside the valuation window. Our guide to evidence that holds up at hearings covers how these fit together.
Pulling those sales and adjusting them properly is where most homeowners run out of time, which is why Texas lets you appoint a representative to file and appear for you. Licensed, local property tax professionals do this daily and know which sales a given appraisal district will accept. If you hire help, be wary of anyone promising a specific dollar reduction, because no company can legally promise a particular outcome.
Send Record Errors and Exemption Questions Straight to the CAD
If your notice shows the wrong square footage, an extra bathroom, or a garage you do not have, that is a records problem. Corrections are handled directly with the appraisal district as an administrative matter rather than through a protest, and the district may need to verify the change or re-measure first. Exemption questions go directly to your CAD as well. Fixing the record will not lower your value on its own, but next spring’s valuation then starts from accurate data, and a protest challenges the tax appraised value and nothing else.
Frequently Asked Questions About Your Property Appraisal Notice
Why does my notice show a percent change compared with five years ago?
Section 25.19 requires it for real property. The figure surfaces longer-term movement a year-over-year comparison hides.
My land value went up but the house did not. Can I protest that?
Yes. A protest challenges the total tax appraised value, and land is part of that total. Because the market value notice separates land from structures, you can see which component moved and build evidence to match.
I own a rental. Why does my notice warn about the circuit breaker expiring?
Because the Legislature authorized the 20 percent limitation only through the 2026 tax year, and Section 25.19 requires non-homestead notices to say so. Starting in 2027, that property’s tax appraised value has no ceiling unless lawmakers extend it.
My exemption disappeared from this year’s notice. What happened?
Usually a deed change, since adding a spouse, refinancing into a trust, or transferring to an LLC can end one. The other common cause is an unanswered verification request. Contact your CAD directly, because restoring an exemption is administrative and never a protest issue.
Do the bigger exemptions mean the notice matters less?
No. Voters raised the school district homestead exemption to $140,000 under Proposition 13, and the increase applied to tax years beginning January 1, 2025. Exemptions shrink the slice of value that gets taxed. They say nothing about whether the value was accurate.
Which comparable sales should I use to challenge my notice?
Closed sales of homes similar to yours that sold in the twelve months before January 1, adjusted for the differences between them and your property. Unverified figures from general real estate websites do not hold up at a hearing. Our guide to comparable home sales covers how to pick and adjust them.
Should I protest if my value barely changed?
Yes. Filing costs nothing, a value that looks fair can still sit above what the market supports, and a lower value becomes the base next year’s increase is calculated from. That is why protesting every year pays off.
Turn Next Spring’s Notice Into a Fair Value
The notice in your mailbox is a proposal, not a verdict. Texas built an annual protest into the system because mass appraisal, applied across hundreds of thousands of properties at once, cannot see the drainage problem in your backyard or the roof you have been putting off. Homeowners who pay a fair share read past the headline number and file every year, whatever the number looks like.
Our licensed professionals work your case entirely online, and our hybrid pricing, a modest upfront fee plus a percentage of savings, means every property gets a full protest rather than only the files that look like easy wins. For a protest carried all the way through, that is the best value a Texas homeowner can get. At Home Tax Shield, we handle it start to finish, every year. Get started with our team and let us take next spring’s notice from here.