Only 25 Percent of Homeowners Protest Their Property Tax: Learn How at Free Webinar May 2

There’s a lot we don’t understand about how property tax appraisals work, let alone how to protest the county’s obfuscated appraised value. To help inform homeowners, CandysDirt.com has again teamed with Glenn Goodrich of PropertyTax.io to host a free webinar about protesting your property tax appraisal notice. The online webinar will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 2. RSVP now to secure your spot.

“When you receive your property tax appraisal notice, the first thing you should do is really consider filing a protest,” Goodrich told Candy Evans during an episode of Dallas Dirt. “There’s a growing segment of the population that’s doing that, but it’s still only 25 to 30 percent of homeowners, depending on the county. What’s funny about that is you look at the tax roll for commercial versus residential, and nearly all the commercial properties protest every year.”

Goodrich gives a broad look at property tax appraisals and the factors appraisal districts use to determine value in this episode of Dallas Dirt. You can listen right here from the article:

It’s important to understand how the county assesses your home’s value, but you wouldn’t be alone if you were left wondering how do property tax appraisals work.

How does the county assess my property tax?

Every year, county appraisal districts assess the taxable value of properties in their county to determine what’s called their assessed value. But these appraisals aren’t like home appraisals you get when you’re buying/selling a home.

Unlike those kind of individual appraisals, the county appraisal districts don’t personally inspect each home’s exterior or see the home’s interior. That’s a common misconception — that appraisers review a home’s exterior curb appeal to determine a value.

Most often, your home’s assessed value is based on a mass appraisal for similar kinds of property. For example, the appraisal district assumes like floorplan homes in a master-planned community have similar values and assesses them uniformly. And that value is ultimately based on other homes’ sales price.

Another misconception — appraisal districts don’t always reassess your home annually. By tax code, appraisal districts are only required to reappraise all property in their jurisdictions once every three years.

But you have the right to protest how much the county appraisal district says your property is worth, which directly affects the amount of property taxes you are required to pay.

What happens during a property tax protest?

1. The appraisal district mails Notices of Appraised Value.

You receive a notice from your local appraisal district each year, which provides information about the assessed value of your property. For Dallas County, the notices went out April 12.

2. Review the notice.

If you agree with the value, no action is required. If you disagree, make note of the deadline to file a protest if they want to contest the assessed value. In Texas, the deadline is typically 30 days after the date the notice was mailed. In this case, the Dallas County deadline is May 15. It’s important to note that if you miss this protest deadline, you lose the right to protest for that tax year.

If you choose to have your property taxes professionally protested like most commercial properties do, you can reach out to companies like PropertyTax.io who handle the protest and you pay only a percentage of what you save.

RSVP Now:

3. Gather evidence.

To support your property tax protest, property owners should gather evidence that demonstrates their property’s assessed value is incorrect. This may include recent comparable sales of similar properties (or comps), evidence of any physical damage or deterioration, or evidence of any other factors that affect the property’s value.

4. File a protest with the appraisal district by May 15 or sooner.

This can be done online with a program like Dallas County’s uFile, by mail, or in person. The protest should include the property owner’s contact information, the property’s identification number, a statement of the reasons for the protest, and any supporting evidence, including comps and photos.

5. Schedule a protest hearing.

Once the protest is filed, the property owner will undergo an informal protest hearing online or may be scheduled for a formal hearing with an appraisal review board (ARB), which is an independent panel of citizens that hears property tax protests. The property owner may present their evidence and arguments to the ARB in support of their protest. The ARB will then make a decision and notify the property owner of their decision.

6. You may appeal the ARB.

If you are dissatisfied with the ARB’s decision, you may further appeal to a district court or a state agency, depending on the specific circumstances and the amount in dispute.

7. Pay your taxes.

Regardless of the outcome of the continuing property tax protest, the property owner is typically required to pay their property taxes based on the ARB’s decision. If the protest is successful, the property owner will receive a refund for any overpaid taxes.

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RSVP for “How to Protest Your Property Taxes (and Win),” which takes place this Thursday at 10 a.m. If you can’t attend, RSVP for the event and you’ll receive the recording soon after.