The Deadline to Protest Your Taxes is Today — Here’s What to Know
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The deadline to protest your property taxes is Friday, and homeowners who plan to challenge their ever-rising appraisal values still have time to file. We’ve certainly seen the trend: Up go the property values, up go the property taxes, regardless of legislative action to chop rates.
That’s why CandysDirt.com recently offered readers the opportunity to ask licensed residential property tax consultant Glenn Goodrich questions directly. Goodrich created a free protest research tool called Open Property Tax that gives homeowners much of the same information and analysis used by his full-service protest firm, PropertyTax.io. It was our first time hosting this kind of small Q&A session, and we can promise you there will be more in the future.
Texas ranks around 5th highest in the nation for effective property tax rates, which vary by county and city. Texans especially feel the heat because property values have risen dramatically in the last 20 years, and Texas has no state income tax. While property taxes fund Texas schools, police and fire services, and road construction, they can contribute to housing affordability challenges when it comes to multi-family properties, which pass increases onto tenants.
Glenn’s message: Always file a protest, and make it accurate, succinct, and factual. Bring documentation of repairs and support your protest with strong photos.
He also cautioned homeowners not to over-rely on “equal and uniform” arguments, which many property owners misunderstand — and are difficult to argue.
Another tip: Enlist a real estate agent to help you with neighborhood comps. (And yes, we can also help you find one.)
One of the more interesting takeaways involved open records requests. Homeowners have the right to ask for records related to how their property was evaluated by the appraisal district. You can know exactly what county tax appraisers have been saying about it behind closed doors when it comes to appraisal value and other such discussions.
Also, if you don’t submit everything online, be sure to mail your property tax protest (and all documentation) by Certified mail! That shows proof of timely submission. That means by May 15 at midnight.
Need more? You’ll find an archive of property tax protest stories on CandysDirt.com. And do take a look at OpenPropertyTax.com, Goodrich’s free AI-powered tool designed to help homeowners better understand and prepare property tax protests.
