This time of year, everyone in North Texas is worrying about property taxes. The good news is that your home values are up. The bad news is that your tax appraisals are up too and that means more taxes in the coming year.
Before you panic, be aware that in most jurisdictions your property taxes won’t go up more than 10% annually on your Homestead even if your tax valuation goes up more than that in a single year. Further, some local Appraisal Districts may lower their tax rates for the coming year which will offset some of the value increases. Stay tuned, as tax rates won’t be announced until later in the year but by then the local deadline (May 31 in most counties) to protest will be gone. Now’s the time to consider your options.
What can you do to fight the assessed value increase if you think yours is too high? First, file your protest on time and base it on an inaccurate market value or unequal treatment compared to similar properties, not on a plea that it will be a hardship to pay the additional taxes. This argument will fail. Second, in your protest filing, request that they send you the “House Bill 201 Evidence Packet.” This will provide the exact comps the appraiser used in valuing your property and will limit the CAD’s evidence at the hearing to only those properties. Third, get help from a REALTOR® to provide comps (comparable sales in the area) for your home and help you interpret them. Fourth, be prepared – show up at the hearing armed with photos of your property and be able to show why yours is not worth as much as neighboring properties and the properties in the Evidence Packet. For example, if you haven’t updated your home in 20 years yet the comps used by the CAD are newly constructed homes, then obviously your property can’t be valued the same.
I routinely provide free market analyses for clients, prospective clients, friends and neighbors. If you would like more information to help you evaluate whether and how to fight your tax assessed values, please contact me. I’m here to serve!