Is Protesting The Increased Tax Appraisal Worth the Effort?

[Wiliamr]

The problem with my area of Austin, all the comps were sold for more than they appraised mine at, and about 30% of the comps not only sold for more than mine, but they were demo'd within a couple months.

The older homes that sold and were not demo'd, were major remodel/rehab and sales price was higher than the appraisal for mine, but the remodel costs were in the 50K to 100K range.

My argument for last 10 years is age / condition of the house and all comps being sold are demo'd. This year the comps not only were demo'd, they sold about 50K more than mine was appraised. I have taken estimates to redo roof, plumbing, wiring, redo the wood floors and repair sheet rock. to various Arb meeting. The one thing one has to be very careful of, is not paint your property to be in such a bad light that it gets moved to the bad condition list and then city code compliance comes out and demands repairs or flags the house for demolition.

Need a new strategy for next year. I am thinking about every cold caller that calls wanting to buy the place, telling them to send a contract to look over.

 

[DougC]

Now that the appraisal is set for this year for most of us let's, "...slug it out with your governing bodies over property taxes" says this...

...Dallas Morning News Watchdog column explaining the new online process to protest the current proposed tax rates for county, city, school district, hospital and other taxing entities. Even if you didn't protest your appraisal you can write an email to let the elected taxing authority know you want the 'No-New-Revenue' rate. Read the article for more details and watch out for the postcard in the mail inviting you to look at texas.gov/propertytaxes. I checked my county and the info was already posted.​

And I have already sent emails from the same pages via the contact link for each taxing authority that display my tax rate. Took maybe 5 minutes, copy/paste changing the text a bit for different tax authorties.

 

[Eastexasrick]

Well, here is the update; I had my appeal board hearing today. Had good facts and data but I drew a three person board made up of two good people and one asshat.

I let appraiser go first (he was a real jerk and obviously qualified only to crunch numbers). I made my pitch based on the fact that the comps he used on my street were all of homes with $150K-$200K remodels and showed photos from the real estate listings of the kitchens and baths compared to photos of my home which is large original 1980's (the panel could not believe the differences). Furthermore, I noted that I have no permanent outbuildings or shops like the others and my home is all electric with no gas like the others which is a big deal now that electric rates have doubled. I also showed 4 homes from the Appraisal District database that had $/sq. ft appraisals far less than mine, two of which have in ground pools.

Two of the board members reacted well and noted that all of the things I pointed out affected market value but the asshat said he would consider nothing other than applying the average $/sq ft from all of the local sales and applying that to my home. Anything other than that was no acceptable to him. Then, it became obvious that the panel chair could only live with a unanimous decision so the other two gave up their positions and voted with the asshat.

The only positive was that they discovered a minor math error in the appraiser's calcs hat lowered my appraisal by a bit over $10,000 which is about 1/3 of what I wanted.

I went with the panel because I assumed the appraiser would be a jerk and not want to back off from his findings (I was right) but I had the misfortune to draw another jerk as a member of my panel. I have no doubt that another panel would have knocked $20K-$30K off my appraisal.

So I was victim to the logic that if completely restored 55 Chevy Bel Airs are selling for $200K, a rusted out original model should be appraised at the same amount even if no one will give you anywhere near that for the car.

I have an appeal right but they can kiss my appraised arse. It's no wonder Smith County has some of the highest taxes in the state.

I have a small place in Collin County with a house built in the 70s and never updated. Just had my hearing. I also had the 3 member panel, one asshat two passive but reasonable. You almost quoted what they ruled on mine. The neighbors have more $ in their front gate than my damn place is worth but we are the same $ per square foot. My old busted rust bucket is worth the same as a fully restored concourse D'Elegance

 

[Wildcat Diva]

This property tax thing is quite the racket. I’m not enjoying this nonsense.

 

[candcallen]

This property tax thing is quite the racket. I’m not enjoying this nonsense.

Disability pays off. For once. Taxes frozen


I'd still rather not be a crippled crotchety bastard. I miss fighting people.



Where I had a better than even chance of winning.

 

[candcallen]

Shit, got my appraisal notice for the year. So happy to have the exemptions I do otherwise taxes would increase a shit load. The ammount of increase was staggering.

Property taxes in Texas are broken. I still pay more on just property taxes than I did on total taxes in AZ including state and registration fees.

 

[popper]

old busted rust bucket is worth the same as a fully restored concourse D'Elegance
Yup, inflation and general SPENDING by the counties and schools REQUIRES higher taxes. Don't count on the state leg. to really accomplish anything.

 

[toddnjoyce]

…Property taxes in Texas are broken. I still pay more on just property taxes than I did on total taxes in AZ including state and registration fees.

While I agree property taxes are broken, comparing to CO, I don’t and that’s using 2016 CO numbers vs 2023 Texas numbers, but that’s likely to end in the next couple of years. If I used 2023 vs 2023, I’d have an even higher tax burden in CO than in TX.

The big one that drives that is COs 5% income tax. I could almost double our property tax burden here in TX before it would exceed COs 5% income tax burden alone, and that’s before property taxes and dropping a few hundred annually to register each vehicle.

 

[Fishkiller]

Well I don’t compare state to state as it does not help you in the place you are at. Unless you plan on relocating it is just an exercise to loss you off of make you feel good. I have fought increases in the past with little relief supposedly our place is an upper tier since we put on a metal roof and painted the exterior. Well no more do I care. Since I am elderly the county and city have capped my taxes except for the water district which is $18. Sometimes age helps

 

[striker55]

There is a company we used to use that did the appeal for you. Wife said she's going to do the appeal herself. Has an appointment for next week.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Yes, though in the past they were more likely to lower your taxes, but of late...not so much.

Still, it's worth the effort.

 

[Eastexasrick]

I have skipped protesting 3 or 4 times in the last 24 years. Yes its always worth it. As noted in a prior post the current scheme for older homes is leave, or lower it,on the improvements ( home), then gig you on the land value. Still worth protesting. Its your right, its your money, they are public employees, and need to be questioned on a regular basis. After the first 5 or 10 times you will find you get better at it.

 

[DougC]

Like opening day of hunting season in Texas it's time to hurl the opening paperwork/online protest at your local tax appraisal district.

Here is a link to a columnist from Dallas Morning News articles from 2022 that are good to get you started. In the video below he discusses lots of stuff about appraisal process. As the columnist said;
“Overload the system like never before, and in return, appraisers would have to settle cases in greater numbers than ever to clear their calendar by the state’s July deadline.”




If you want to skip to direct action here are two steps;

• Protest without going to the hearing
• Check back of appraisal letter for website to file online protest. For example Collin county is efileprotest.collincaad.org. You can find your county online protest website with a bit of searching.

Last point if you need help contact a property tax consultant. Best not to pay any money up front so check them out.