The median property tax in Texas is $2,275, which is a hefty 3% of the average Texas household income of $74,640. Property taxes are appraised by your local jurisdiction, so market forces can drive up your property taxes whether you buy a new home or not. Because of this, homeowners must take as many steps as possible to fight for lower, fairer property taxes.
While filing for exemptions is one popular strategy, it’s often not enough. Instead, it’s just as important to file a property tax protest every year. This process involves protesting against the appraisal value every spring. By diligently protesting every year, you can shrink that value and make it more reasonable before local tax assessors start using it to calculate your property tax bill.
There are two strategies you can use for property tax protests: doing all the work yourself or hiring a property tax service—so it’s important to choose the right one that gives you easy access to as much cost-saving potential as possible.
How Does a Property Tax Protest Work?
To understand how property tax protests work, it’s helpful to know how property taxes are calculated. Every spring, local professionals in your appraisal district calculate your home’s value as of January 1st of that given year. They either appraise your home directly or use software to calculate the value based on nearby similar homes. Then they publish that information, and if your home’s value goes up, they’ll send you a notice of appraised value.
- Homeowners typically have until May 15th to protest the amount if they believe it’s too high.
- Both protested and unprotested home values are finalized in late summer and sent to local tax assessors.
- The county Tax assessors apply any savings from exemptions and calculate your tax bill around November. Property taxes are due by January 31st of the following year.
That spring period before the end of May is your only opportunity to protest your home’s recorded value, and that’s important because it’s the number local officials will use to determine your property tax bill.
Related: Proposition 4: A Guide to Recent Property Tax Relief in Texas
It’s important to protest every single year, as the appraisers may have made a mistake, such as comparing it to properties that aren’t a good fit, not considering unique encumbrances on your property, or comparing it to upgraded and recently sold homes that have valuable new amenities and updates your home simply doesn’t have.
If the central appraisal district’s review board agrees with your counter-valuation and arguments, you can see a reduction in your home’s appraised value and your property taxes overall. The property tax rate in Texas is often above 2%, so every $10,000 you can whittle off the market value saves you around $200.
Two Strategies: Handle It All Yourself or Work With Property Tax Professionals
Once you understand what protesting your property taxes is all about and what it affects, it’s time to decide which property tax protest strategy to adopt every year. There are two main approaches: handling everything yourself—including creating a counter-valuation of the property, filing the paperwork, representing yourself, and presenting arguments in a formal hearing—or hiring a professional service to manage it all for you.
Option 1: The DIY Approach
With this approach, you’re involved every step of the way. You’ll need to remember all deadlines and prepare to negotiate in informal hearings or present arguments and counterarguments in front of a hearing board.
The whole property tax protest process involves these major steps:
Start With an Automated Protest (If It’s Available)
Many, though not all counties, start with an automated protest process. If you log onto your central appraisal district to e-file your protest form, you might be directed to a portal to establish your counter-valuation or the amount you think your home is worth. Automated protest systems will evaluate your counter-valuation, and they might agree with you or reduce the initial value to a middle ground between the two numbers.
Counties have started implementing this process because they’re overwhelmed by the number of protest filings they receive and are worried about getting through everything before their summer deadlines.
If the system agrees with your counter-valuation, you’re done for the year. But if it doesn’t offer you a compromise or you still disagree with the revised valuation, you can move forward with your protest by declining the offer.
Move Onto the Informal Meeting Stage
The next stage is a meeting with an appraiser. You will receive a set date and time for meeting with an appraiser at your local central appraisal district building.
Courteously address your concerns about the initial valuation and present any evidence you have about why the market value is inflated. You must bring documentation that proves your home’s condition is not comparable to other homes in your neighborhood.
For example, the county may have valued your home as if it has the same upgrades and improvements as a neighboring home that was flipped. Alternatively, their system might have accidentally compared yours against homes on a street across town with the same name.
Related: 5 Strategies for an Effective Property Tax Protest in Texas
At the meeting, you’ll present your evidence and discuss the implications of the documents on your home’s market value. At the end of the conversation, the appraiser may agree with you, offer another compromise amount, or disagree entirely. If you’re not satisfied with the end result, you can move forward to a formal hearing.
Attend a Formal Hearing to Present Your Evidence to the Appraisal Review Board and Argue With the County Appraiser
Your central appraisal district will give you a date and time for a formal hearing at least 15 days before it occurs. Once the day arrives, you and an appraiser will provide evidence to support your respective valuations before an appraisal review board. These hearings are generally short, but it’s important to be prepared, organized, and confident. You should also bring printed copies of your evidence for each member.
The board will listen to both sides and make a final ruling. You may appeal it afterward, but the board’s decision is final until determined otherwise.
Repeat the Process Every Year for Maximum Benefits
It’s not enough to do this process once, unlike filing a homestead exemption, which sticks with your property until disqualifications occur. Rather, it’s best to conduct a property tax protest every year so your recorded market value doesn’t increase out of control.
Option 2: The Hands-Off Approach With Property Tax Experts
Handling the process yourself is a lot of work, and it requires expertise and access to information you likely don’t have. Many homeowners are overwhelmed by the idea of creating a counter-valuation based on market data, gathering evidence to support their claim, and speaking to a county appraiser, let alone presenting arguments in front of a review board.
For homeowners who want to access the benefits of a property tax protest without trying to manage it all alone, there are protest services that can do the work for you.
Sign Up for Annual Recurring Representation Throughout Every Year’s Property Tax Protest Season
Once you research and compare different services, all you have to do is sign up. Your chosen property tax protest experts can file your notice on time, present a researched counter-valuation, and support the lower valuation in informal meetings and formal hearings. Many companies offer this service on a recurring basis, so you don’t have to sign up again every year.
The benefits of hiring a service to represent you include:
- You don’t have to take time off work to speak to an appraiser or attend the hearing.
- Property tax protest experts can have your home appraised and gather evidence to support the lower appraisal amount.
- Reputable services often charge a low upfront fee and then a percentage of the savings you get. This helps ensure you get net savings.
- You never have to worry about missing a deadline or accidentally skipping a year.
Choose Experts for an Easy Way to Win Your Property Tax Protest
There’s no doubt that property taxes have been skyrocketing in Texas, but you have several resources for keeping that bill in check, including protesting your appraisal value. Home Tax Shield is a property tax protest service that specializes in helping Texas homeowners fight back against high property taxes and win. Sign up today to take property tax protests off your to-do list and gain the peace of mind that you’re doing everything to reduce your property tax obligations—now and in the future.