Even though most property tax appeals are resolved at the informal hearing, in some cases the homeowner will need to pursue the next step by appealing at the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) hearing. If a homeowner is not satisfied with the offer the appraiser makes at the informal hearing, the ARB hearing provides another avenue to appeal.

The steps of the hearing process for the typical county are delineated below:

  1. Introduction of the two parties at the hearing
  2. Explanation of the hearing process
  3. Property description (address any errors in the description of your property after the appraiser reads their description of your property)
  4. Property owner presentation
  5. Questions from the ARB panel members
  6. Appraisal district presentation
  7. Questions from the ARB panel members
  8. Rebuttal and closing evidence from the property owner
  9. ARB announces decision

After the ARB makes its decision, the hearing is completed. (At this point, the ARB decision is not open to negotiation.)

The following tips will help you present your appeal case at the ARB hearing:

  • Whether you are appealing on unequal appraisal, market value, or addressing errors in the appraisal district’s records for your home, you should be able to prepare a clear, concise presentation, which does not exceed three to five minutes in length.
  • Have five copies of all information you will be using in your presentation (one for each ARB member, one for the appraisal district appraiser and one for yourself).
  • If you have requested the House Bill 201 information for your property and the appraisal district appraiser presents information not included in the bill package, wait until it is time to give rebuttal evidence before addressing the issue. When you are giving rebuttal evidence and closing remarks, ask the ARB to sanction the appraisal district for using inappropriate evidence by concluding to the value you requested.

Options after the ARB hearing
If you had an ARB hearing for your property tax appeal, you have the following options to appeal the results:

  1. Accept the value as final for the year,
  2. Request binding arbitration if the assessed value after the hearing is equal to or less than $1 million and the only issue is market value,
  3. File a judicial appeal regarding either unequal appraisal and/or market value, and/or
  4. File a suit utilizing Texas Property Tax Code 41.45 if the ARB hearing was not legitimate.
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