Archive May 2010
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Top 10 Tips for Protesting Your Property Taxes
Top 10 Tips For Protesting Your Property Taxes
As the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin goes, "the only things certain in life are death and taxes.” In Texas, during the months of April and May property owners start receiving those dreaded notices from the tax appraisal districts. The appraised value set each year determines the amount of annual property tax owed (the appraised value for a homestead property cannot increase more than 10% per year). The property tax is the largest source of funding for local services in Texas; property taxes pay for public schools, city streets, police, fire protection and many other services.
One of your most important rights as a Texas taxpayer is your right to protest to the appraisal review board (ARB). The ARB is a group of citizens authorized to resolve disputes between taxpayers and the appraisal district. The ARB must base its decisions on evidence. It hears evidence from both the taxpayer and the chief appraiser. ARB hearings begin around May 1 and should complete most hearings by July 20. In the largest counties, this deadline may be later. ARB meetings are open to the public.
Here are some tips for a successful tax protest:
1. Mail your protest form as late as possible but still by the deadline. Why? You can do research on any similar properties on your street and nearby streets to see their appraised values. If any of them have had successful tax protests, their appraised values will be lowered. You can bring this data in as evidence, especially for homes of similar square footage. If you have a very early hearing date you won’t be able to gather this important evidence since few hearings will have occurred. To do research on properties, simply plug in addresses to http://www.traviscad.org/tcad_search.php?mode=situs&kind=real for Travis County or http://www.wcad.org/PropSearch.html for Williamson County.
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On your protest form under step 3, check boxes for "property is over value" and "property value is unequal compared to other properties.
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Do not fill in anything under step 4. Leave it completely blank and for sure do not fill in anything for question "what do you think your property value is?"
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On step 5, check "yes" for you want ARB to send in copy of its hearing procedures & write in "request evidence packet & sales comp grid" (see #4 below).
2. Be polite and calm. No one is happy about higher taxes, however angry or rude behavior at your hearing will not help. Being friendly and polite will always get you farther.
3. Recognize that January 1st is the official property valuation date. Homes that sold closest to this date are most significant to the appraisal district; the further you go from this date, the less valid.
4. Request the “sales comp grid”: sold homes the appraisal district used to determine your home’s value. At least 14 days before your hearing, you should receive any information the chief appraiser plans to introduce at the hearing. When you mail in your protest form, write “mail me my sales comp grid” prominently on the form. In addition, you should receive a copy of Taxpayers Rights, Remedies & Responsibilites (read it, as it contains a lot of helpful info!).
5. Ask your Realtor to poke holes in the “sales comp grid” data. Once you receive your sales comp grid, we can help review it to find any reasons why the sold homes used might have higher value than your home. For example, there could be a home with a pool or major kitchen remodel that your home does not have.
6. Use pictures as evidence. Help the person who helps you by providing evidence showing the condition of your property. If you are trying to prove your home is in worse condition than the other sold homes and value should be lowered, it will really help to have photos to back up your claims. Remember the condition of your home on Jan 1st is most important.
7. Bring in lower-priced sold home comps, but only within your geographic grid; ask your Realtor for help. Your Realtor can likely find homes that sold for lower prices than the homes used by the appraisal district. Many people who fail in their tax protests bring in sold homes outside their sales comp grid area. The appraisal district goes a very short distance from your home and stays very close in square footage (normally not higher than 25% up or down) in comparables. They also stay very close in year built.
8. Use your HUD settlement statement as evidence to lower your appraised value if the 2009 purchase price was lower than the 2009 appraised value. You have a very easy protest if your sold price was lower than the appraised value. All you need to do is mail a copy of the HUD statement and it is generally lowered to that amount without any hearing (ask your Realtor for a copy if you can’t find it).
9. Hire a professional. Too busy or just don’t feel like you have the skills to be successful? You can hire an expert to handle your protest. They will charge a fee, but Tax Tiger only charges you if they get your value lowered. Visit http://www.taxtiger.com/ for more information.
10. Don’t give up and continue to protest every year. Every time you protest, you have a chance to get your value lowered and pay less taxes. Even if you are not successful this time, don’t give up and give it a try next year. Ask a lot of questions at your hearing and try to learn as much as possible about how to succeed at the process. I have been successful for the past 2 years and have found both tax employees to be extremely helpful and friendly.
Property Tax Resources: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/index.html
Property Taxpayers Bill of Rights: http://window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/bill_of_rights.html
Sources: http://www.traviscad.org/ (Travis Central Appraisal District) * http://www.taxtiger.com/ * Texas Property Tax Code * Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/index.html
Tammy is a licensed Realtor with Horizon Realty in Austin, Texas. An Austin resident since 1978, she's part of a Mother/Daughter Realtor team with over 27 years of combined experience. Tammy & Judy are experts at marketing and staging homes for top dollar. They specialize in the Wells Branch subdivision in North Austin and have helped Buyers, Sellers, and Investors in all parts of the city and surrounding areas. You can reach Tammy at tammy@familypair.com or (512) 773-3214 or visit her site at http://www.familypair.com/.
