Property taxes and how to protest

The Harris Central Appraisal District sets the value, and it is the owner's job to argue with it.

The deadline

Under Texas Tax Code §41.44(a), a protest has to be filed "not later than May 15 or the 30th day after the date that notice to the property owner was delivered, whichever is later".¹ That is measured from the date the notice was delivered, so a late notice moves the deadline. If the district misses the April 15 mailing date, HCAD says the deadline becomes 30 days after the date printed on the notice.² The district states the same deadline and adds that if May 15 lands on a weekend or holiday it rolls to the next business day.²

You can file online through the district's owner account, by mail with a postmark on or before the deadline, or in person at 13013 Northwest Freeway. There is no after-hours drop box.²

Unequal appraisal

Texas is a non-disclosure state: "Unlike most states, Texas laws do not require mandatory disclosure of sale prices."³ Appraisal districts pull sale prices from deeds, voluntary closing statements and third-party vendors instead. That is why arguing market value is hard here.

The stronger ground is §41.41(a)(2), unequal appraisal, decided under §41.43(b).¹

The statute puts the burden on the district. Section 41.43(b) says an unequal appraisal protest "shall be determined in favor of the protesting party unless the appraisal district establishes" that your appraisal ratio sits at or below the median for a reasonable sample of similar properties, or that your appraised value is at or below the median of comparable properties appropriately adjusted.¹

There is no need to prove the house is worth less. The showing is that it is assessed higher per square foot than comparable neighbors, and the district then has to rebut it, using its own published values, which are free.⁴

The burden flips if you ignore the district's mail. Under section 41.43(d), an owner who does not answer a rendition request or the chief appraiser's request for information before the hearing carries the burden themselves, "and if the property owner fails to meet that standard, the protest shall be determined in favor of the appraisal district".¹ Answer the letters.

What to check

The office is the Harris Central Appraisal District now, not Harris County. The board voted the change on August 17, 2022 and it took effect at the start of 2023, "to help property owners distinguish between the responsibilities of the county government and the appraisal district".⁵ Only the acronym survived, so everyone here still says HCAD, and it is the same office.

1. Value per square foot against the median for the HCAD neighborhood code. Much of Timberwood sits under codes beginning 2403.⁴
2. Whether HCAD's physical record is correct: square footage, year built, grade, condition, bedroom and bath count, pool, garage, outbuildings.⁴ Factual errors are the easiest wins because they are not arguable.
3. The homestead cap. On a homestead the appraised value cannot rise by more than 10 percent of last year's appraised value, plus the value of any new improvements, under Tax Code §23.23.⁶
4. Exemptions not being received: homestead, over-65, disability, veteran. A homestead exemption can be filed from the district's own app, and it costs nothing.⁷

A Timberwood detail

HCAD groups much of the neighborhood as built after 1990, and the stock inside those groupings is largely 1990s.⁴ A newer infill house may be priced against comparables that do not resemble it, in either direction. That is worth checking before accepting a number.

Still open

Which neighbors have protested, what evidence worked, whether they went informal or to an ARB hearing, and whether anyone found a paid protest firm worth the cut.

See also

• Home insurance
• Flooding
• About Timberwood