Your local property appraiser sets a value on your property, based on current market value, including buildings and other improvements. You may be eligible for certain exemptions. Check with your county’s property appraiser for more information. Any exemptions are deducted from the assessed value.
The final amount is the taxable value of your property.
EXAMPLE
Assessed value |
$110,000 |
Homestead exemption |
- 25,000 |
Taxable value |
$ 85,000 |
As a theoretical matter, for a limited period of time following the mailing of the notice of proposed taxes annually in August, the property appraiser’s door is open to you to informally confer and object to your assessment. As a practical matter, once the property appraiser prepares your assessment, he may be “invested” in it and not want to change it even if you point out a flaw in his or her reasoning.
Some taxpayers prefer not to avail themselves of the “informal conference” with the property appraiser described in the statutes. Those taxpayers often raise questions about the process: Will the property appraiser reduce my assessment even if I have a legitimate gripe? Will the appraiser “pump” me for information to use against me in defending the assessment if I later decide to file a tax appeal? And what about those stories of significant tax reductions achieved even after the property appraiser said the taxpayer had no grounds for relief?
In the event you are unsuccessful in conferring with the property appraiser, forgot to confer, decided not to confer—or just plain want a second opinion other than your own--contact a property tax professional. Or just click here.
