Texas Property Tax Tips
    Advice and suggestions to help property owners achieve fair & equal assessments and reduce property taxes.
Unequally Appraised? Get Tips on How To Appeal Your Property Taxes

Where appraisals in a district are inconsistent, a taxpayer may be penalized even though that owner's property is appraised at or below market value. This is called unequal appraisal and is grounds to file a protest.

The most effective approach to appealing on unequal appraisal is using "a reasonable number of appropriately adjusted comparables." Comparable properties are similar with regard to quality and quantity of improvements. For appeals on your home, summarizing information on 5 to 10 comparable houses on the same street or in the same neighborhood is reasonable and appropriate.

In a protest of unequal appraisal, the ARB must determine a protest in favor of the protesting party unless the appraisal district establishes the following:

  • The property's appraisal ratio is equal to or less than the median level of appraisal of a reasonable and representative sample of other properties in the appraisal district;
  • The property's appraisal ratio is equal to or less than the median level of appraisal of a sample of properties, consisting of a reasonable number of other properties similarly situated to or of the same general kind or character; or
  • The property's value of a reasonable number of comparable properties are appropriately adjusted.
Another option for unequal appraisal would be a property that is appraised at $105,000, but worth only $100,000. The ARB should lower the value to $100,000 because the appraisal is excessive. Suppose, however, that a representative sample shows the median level of appraisal for the district is .85. The taxpayer has the right to a further reduction. To calculate the proper value, multiply $100,000 (market value) by 8.5 (medianratio), ($100,000 x .85) for an $85,000 value.

Owners can rebut the appraisal district's evidence above and can actually obtain the evidence 14 days before the hearing. This is sometimes referred to as a House Bill 201 packet. In many cases, the appraisal district House Bill 201 information supports a lower value. In addition to obtaining your adversary's evidence, making the request limits what information the appraisal district can present at the hearing. If you do not request their information prior to the hearing, they can use any information available to them at the hearing. However, if you request the appraisal district information using a House Bill 201 request, they may only use information previously provided to you.

Questions?
E-mail O'Connor & Associates, or call 1-877-4-TAXCUT.

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Property Tax Tips

  • Protest every year, and use all steps in appeal process when necessary


  • Protest both market value and unequal appraisal


  • Obtain data to prepare for hearing


  • Be aggressive; demand results

About O'Connor & Associates

As Texas' largest property tax consulting firm, O'Connor & Associates has the expertise and the manpower to help you lower your property taxes. In 2005, O'Connor filed more than 42,000 protests, effectively reducing our client's assessed values by $1.1 billion, cutting their taxes by over $33 million. O'Connor charges no flat fee and no cost to the client unless property taxes are reduced. To hire O'Connor & Associates to reduce your property taxes, please visit www.cutmytaxes.com.