ReasonsTexans’ShouldProtestPropertyTaxesAnnually
Texans’shouldprotestpropertytaxesannuallybecauseitisyourmoney! Theinitialtaxassessmentisanunreliablevalue basedonincorrectinformationandafaultygovernmentcomputermodel. Inmostcasestheinitialtaxassessmentisexcessive basedoneithermarketvalueorunequalappraisal.
Youcanspendyourmoneybetterthanthegovernment
PropertytaxesareoneofthemostsignificanttaxesformanyTexasfamilies.Texashasahighsalestaxandnopersonal incometax
Propertytaxesaretheonlytaxthatcanbeappealed
Propertytaxisadvalorem.Advaloremmeansbasedonvalue.
Reasonablepeoplecandisagreeonvalue
ThenumberofparcelstovalueinTexasishuge:20,663,600.Thereareonly2,221appraisersatallTexasappraisaldistricts,and anestimated75%workinthefieldmeasuringnewproperty.Thatleavesanestimated555appraiserstodevelopmassappraisal modelstovalueandaverageof37,198propertiesperappraiserperyear,or169perday
Appraisaldistrictsusemassappraisalmodelsthatdependonaccuratepropertydataforall20,663,600parcelsinTexasand accuratevalueandadjustmentfactorsforcost,depreciation,etc.
Hopefully,youviewyournextnoticeofassessedvaluemorecarefully.ItwasnothandcraftedbyaTexasLicensedRealEstate Appraiserafterdrivingpastyourhouseandthendrivingpastcarefullyselectedcomparablesales,basedonlocation,ageand size.
Thevalueforyourpropertyappraisalisgeneratedusing“MassAppraisal”.Afterassemblingmodel,dataandvalues,theyhitthe “EasyButton”whichspitsoutvaluesforallhousesintheland.Onaverage,thehomevaluesareslightlylowerthanmarket value;2or3%.However,about45%ofthevaluesexceed100%ofmarketvalueandabout15to25%ofthehousesexceed110% ofmarketvalue.(ThereasonIknowthisisfromdoingratiostudiesofsalespricesversusassessedvaluesforrecentlysold homesforfifteenyearsformajorTexasappraisaldistricts.Ourteamhascompletedlikely50to100ratiostudiesforTexas appraisaldistrictsforourownuse;notforsaletotheappraisaldistricts.)
Thecombinationofiffynoticedvaluesandlargevolumesofpropertytaxprotestsimprovesettlementcircumstances.
Thenumberofappealsin2018(1,809,439)wasmuchlargerthanthenumberofappraisershiredbyappraisaldistricts(2,221). Onaverage,eachappraiserisinvolvedin814settlementattemptsduringa3to6monthperiod.
InTexasstatewidein2018,59%ofpropertytaxprotestswereresolvedintheinformalhearingprocess,with80%ofthese settlementsinvolvingareductioninvalue.
Resultswereabout50/50attheappraisalreviewboard(ARB).Ofthe418,000ARBhearingsin2019,223,000involveda reduction,or53%.
WhetheryousettleattheinformalorcontinuetotheARB,yourchanceofsuccessis53to80%!Thoseareexcellentodds.And youcanandshoulddothiseveryyear
Assumea$300,000home,a4%reductionanda2.7%taxrateyields$324inyearonetaxsavings.Finalvalue$288,000.
Nextyearappraisaldistrictdoesnotrevalue;valueremainsat$288,000.Taxesarestartingat$324lessthanlastyearandyou canstillprotest.
Nextyearvalueisincreasedto$350,000,ashockingincrease.Yourmaximumassessedvalueisnow$316,800.Withoutthe appealtwoyearsagoandabaseof$300,000,maximumassessedvaluewouldbe$330,000($300,000x110%).
YoucanobtainaFREEhearingevidencepackagefromtheappraisaldistrict.Starting2020taxyear,theyhavetomailittoyou withoutcost,evenifitisavailableontheirwebsite.
RequestingthisfreehearingevidencepackagelimitswhattheappraisaldistrictcanpresentattheARBhearing.
Peoplearethenumberonereasontoprotestyourpropertytaxesannually
Someyearstheappraiserattheinformalhearingwillbeopenmindedandfocusedonfindinga win-winsettlement. Otheryearsitwillbevirtuallyimpossibletosettleattheinformalhearingregardlessofthequantityorqualityofevidencedueto anintransientandinflexibleappraiser
Samefortheappraisalreviewboard.Someyearswillbereasonable.However,thereareappraisalreviewboardpanelsinsome areasthatvotefortheappraisaldistrict99%ofthetime;twooftheseadjacenttoHarrisCounty
Thehearingevidenceprovidedbytheappraisaldistrictwithinsomeyearsprovideeverythingyouneedtosupportameaningful
thehearingevidencewillappeartoprovideacasewithhope;allthesalesarehigherthanyourproperty
Youcannotgetthehearingevidencepackageunlessyouprotest
Youdonotknowthecontentsofthehearingevidencepackageandwhetheritishelpfuluntilyouprotest.
Youdonotknowiftheinformalappraiserwillbereasonableornotuntilafteryouprotest.
Youdonotknowiftheappraisalreviewboardwillbereasonableornotuntilafteryouprotest.
Youdonotknowthelikelihoodoffurtherreductioninbindingarbitrationorajudicialappealuntilafteryouprotest.
Thereisnocosttoprotest.
Youcanprotesteveryyearregardlessofwhethertheappraisaldistrictraised,loweredordidnotchangethevalue.
Youcanprotestmarketvalueandunequalappraisal.
Youcanalsoanyactionoftheappraisaldistrictorthe appraisalreviewboardthatappliestotheandnegativelyaffectsthe propertyowner.Thiscouldincludeerrorsingrade,class,floodstatus,propertytypeandotherfactors.
Ifyoumissthenormalprotestdeadline,youcanfileasubstantialerror(TaxCode25.25(d))protestuntilJanuary31ofthenext year
Ifyouareover65,youshouldprotestfortworeasons:1)itaffectsyoucity,countyandMUDassessment.TheISD(school) propertytaxesarefrozenwhenyouturn65;butnotthecounty,cityandMUD.Reason2)Ithelpstoavoidhavingunreasonably hightaxassessmentsinthearea.Accountswhichareneverappealedcanbecomelocaloutliersprovidingfodderforthe appraisaldistrictinarguingtosustainavalue.
Yourvaluecannotbeincreasedifyouprotest.Notattheinformalorformalhearing.
The2019TexasLegislaturepassedSenateBill2whichprohibitedappraisalreviewboardfromincreasingthevalueatahearing. Previously,therewasperhapsoneaccountin5000raisedattheARB,sotherewasachanceoftheARBincreasingthevalue.
Startingwiththe2020propertytaxseason,theARBcan’tincreasethevalue.
So,insummary,withtheabilitytogetafreehearingevidencepackagebymail,an80%chanceofsuccessattheinformalanda 53%changeofsuccessattheappraisalreviewboardhearing,whyWOULDN’Tyouprotesteachyear
Yourtotalinvestmentis$0andyourpayoffcouldrangefromhundredsofdollarstomuchlargeramounts.O’Connorestimates 2019propertytaxsavingsforclientsat$95million.Taxsavingstodateforclientsestimatedatinexcessof$1billion.
Pleaseletusdoourworkforyou.Don’ttrytoguesswhichyearswillbesuccessful.Wecan’tdoitanddon’tthinkitispossible foryoutodoit.
Youbenefitbyknowingeverythingreasonablewasreviewedandanalyzedtoattempttoreduceyourpropertytaxes,despitethe factwefailingettingareductionsomeyear.Asyoumayknow,itcanbeafrustratingexperiencewhenitisnotgoingwell. However,wedothatworkintheeasyyearsandthehardyears.Thereiszerocosttoyouinyearswedonotsucceedinreducing yourpropertytaxes.
O’Connorbringsateamofover100professionalswithover500combinedyearsinpropertytaxconsulting.Our“CoreFocus”is: improvingthelivesofpropertyownersthroughcosteffectivetaxreduction.
Yourinterestsarealignedwithourinterests.Wedon’tgetpaidunlesswereduceyourpropertytaxes.
O’Connorispassionateaboutwhatwedoandclearlymoreaggressivethananyknownpropertytaxconsultantinpursuingall levelsofappeal.
Iwanttobeclear Youdonothavetohireustoprotestyourpropertytaxestobeeffective.However,youdohavetoprotest annuallyonmarketvalueandunequalappraisaltobeeffective.
Youcanprotestonyourownandthiswebsiteprovidesallthetipsandtricksoftheprocess.However,mostownersdonot protestconsistently(everyyear).Thissharplydiminishestheeffectivenesssinceyouneverknowwhichyearswillbegood.You canalsogetourbookCutYourTexasPropertyTaxes,byPatrickO’Connor,atAmazon.
Yourpropertytaxeswillbeaggressivelyprotestedeveryyearbyoneof thelargestpropertytaxconsultingfirms.Ifyourtaxesarenotreduced youPAYNOTHING,andaportionofthetaxsavingsistheonlyfeeyou pay when your taxes are reduced! Many FREE benefits come with enrollment.
Nocostunlesstaxesreduced,guaranteed.
