Is it worth it to hire a firm in Texas for property tax protest or file it yourself ?

The past two years our property taxes have gone up by at least 20%. Both last year and this year we received solicitation letters from companies offering to protest on our behalf for a "cut" of the savings. 

Is this worthwhile ? 

Property tax consulting in Texas is not a scam, but that does not mean everyone who advertising as a property tax consultant is not a scammer.

If your Texas property tax valuations have gone up 20% in the past two years, you may consider hiring a consultant, because that certainly does not reflect the general market condition, but that does not mean your specific market has not gone up, just that in general you would not expect a 20% jump in value.

Texas tends to have pretty high property taxes. (the price you pay for no income tax)  So hiring a firm to protest your valuation can be beneficial.  A number of firms work on a contingency basis which minimizes the risk to you.  

You can also protest your valuations yourself and then you get to keep all the savings, if there are any.

Here are the steps in filing a Protest :
http://www.dallascad.org/Forms/Protest_Process.pdf

Texas Property Tax Appeals
Steps to Protesting and Reducing Your Property Value Annually


Step 1. File a ProtestTexas property tax appeals can be filed using the form provided by the appraisal district, or the form available on poconnor.com in the property tax section (see Useful Forms Forms in the left column). Otherwise send a short letter to the chief appraiser at the central appraisal district stating that you are protesting your property tax. You should indicate the basis is both assessed value over market value and equal appraisal. The deadline to file a protest is May 31, or 30 days after notice of your assessed value is mailed to you, whichever is later. Protest annually to minimize your property taxes.


Step 2. Research the Central Appraisal District's Record Card. The appraisal officer  has a record card for each property it assesses. This card contains information such as lot size, building size, amenities, and much more. You will need to go to the district office to obtain the complete record card and there may be a nominal charge. However, you can probably review much of the basic information on the appraisal district's website. Ask the staff if you have questions about the information. Errors in the record card are a sound basis for a protest. It is impossible to maintain correct data for every property in the county.


Step 3. Establish Property ValueTexas appraisal districts typically recognize one of three different approaches to determine market value when granting reductions in property tax assessments. Those approaches are Sales Comparison Approach, Income Approach, and Cost Approach. In addition, recent court rulings have paved the way to encourage more districts to also recognize the Uniform and Equal Approach (unequal appraisal) to valuing the property as provided in the Texas Property Tax Code. Analyze both market value and unequal appraisal when preparing for your Texas property tax appeal.


Step 4. Journey through the Legal Avenues

• Informal Hearing

• After filing a protest you will be notified of a date and time to attend a hearing. This meeting is conducted with a staff appraiser at the appraisal district office. It typically lasts 15 minutes. At its conclusion the appraiser will either indicate he cannot make an adjustment, or he will offer to settle by establishing lower assessment. In Texas, most residential property tax appeals are resolved at the informal hearing.

• Appraisal Review Board Hearing

• This is sometimes called a formal or ARB hearing. Participants include three members of the appraisal review board, a staff appraiser from the appraisal district, a hearing clerk (at some counties) and the property owner or their agent. The property owner or his agent and the district's appraiser will separately present the evidence to support their opinions of the market value and unequal appraisal for the subject property. Afterward, the board members will announce its conclusion, which is not subject to negotiation. However, their decision can be appealed in a Texas district court if a lawsuit is filed against the county appraisal district to further appeal the property taxes .

• Litigation

• While the results of informal hearings are final for the tax year and cannot be appealed through a lawsuit, the results determined at the appraisal review board hearing can be appealed to district court. Before making a decision to do so, the owner should consider the amounts of any potential tax savings, legal costs and expert witness costs. In Texas, most judicial appeals of property tax assessments are successful.

If you have any questions regarding Property tax issues, please contact the Dallas Appraisal office or your Property tax consultant. For Texas residence , dateline to file protest is May 31,2017. For those in the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the online process begins at the website dallascad.org. It gives instructions on how to challenge the assessment.


This information is brought to you by Kingdom Estate Realty LLC-www.kingdomestaterealty.com

Joe Goh is a Licensed Texas Realtor with DFWTEXASPROPERTY covering Dallas-Fortworth. For more information, go to www.dfwtexasproperty.com