| Harris County Appraisal District estimates | | | | assessed value established by the Harris |
| the market value for 1.6 million parcels of | | | | County Appraisal District each year: |
| real estate with a staff of about 150 | | | | |
| appraisers. That's an average of over 10,000 | | | | |
| parcels per appraiser per year! While they | | | | |
| value a large number of properties annually, | | | | 1. The prior years value set an "anchor |
| you can focus intense attention on reducing | | | | value" for the current year's property tax |
| the value of your property. | | | | protest. If your value was $200,000 last year |
| | | | and the current year's proposed value is |
| You can minimize your property taxes with | | | | $220,000, there is a tendency to set the |
| simple steps: | | | | value at or slightly above last year's value. |
| | | | In the case, a typical result might be |
| - File a protest by May 31st for market value | | | | $200,000 to $210,000. However, if they had |
| and unequal appraisal | | | | appealed at the Harris County Appraisal |
| | | | District the prior year and reduced the value |
| - Obtain the Harris County Appraisal District | | | | to $185,000, a typical settlement might be |
| evidence two weeks before the hearing. This | | | | $185,000 - $195,000. Property tax appeals at |
| information is sometimes referred to as the | | | | Harris County Appraisal District are an |
| House Bill 201 package or the 41.461 package. | | | | iterative process. |
| It typically contains evidence regarding the | | | | |
| subject property, market value and unequal | | | | 2. Most appeals at Harris County Appraisal |
| appraisal. | | | | District are successful. About 75-80% of the |
| | | | property tax appeals conducted by O'Connor |
| - Review evidence for both unequal appraisal | | | | & Associates at Harris County Appraisal |
| and market value. Unequal appraisal is when | | | | District result in lower property |
| your property is taxed/assessed at a higher | | | | taxes.Experience shows that when property |
| rate than comparable properties. For a market | | | | owners appeal, prepare for the Harris County |
| value appeal, provided evidence that the | | | | Appraisal District hearings and attend the |
| appraisal district's value exceeds market | | | | hearing(s), they will usually be successful. |
| value. This could include information such as | | | | |
| an error in the size of your property and | | | | Property tax consultants are willing to |
| deferred maintenance at your property. | | | | handle the property tax protest process at |
| | | | Harris County Appraisal District for a |
| - Attend the informal and/or appraisal review | | | | portion of the property tax savings. While |
| board (ARB) hearing at the Harris County | | | | there is a cost when hiring a property tax |
| Appraisal District. In many cases, you can | | | | consultant, you realize property tax savings. |
| attend a hearing prior to the scheduled date. | | | | The property tax savings versus the cost of a |
| HCAD prefers to have hearings prior to rather | | | | property tax consultant are more significant |
| than after the scheduled hearing date. | | | | when considering the iterative nature of the |
| | | | property tax appeal process. |
| - Repeat these steps annually.Property owners | | | | |
| often ask, "I appealed my property taxes at | | | | Real estate decision makers need timely |
| the Harris County Appraisal District last | | | | market data to make informed decisions. It |
| year and obtained a reduction. Harris County | | | | provides insights regarding construction, |
| Appraisal District did not increase my | | | | proposed projects, absorption, and occupancy |
| assessed value. Should I protest my property | | | | and rental rate trends. O'Connor and |
| taxes again this year?" | | | | Associates has been providing real estate |
| | | | data since 1988. Both internal and external |
| The answer is, "Yes, you should protest." | | | | clients regularly use our real estate market |
| There are 2 reasons you should protest the | | | | research. |