Property Taxes Protest

O'Connor and Associates sister - they can help you!

If you are in Williamson County, Joy T's advice will not work.

I have followed the exact process 3 years in a row and lost everytime. This year, we are hiring an attorney.

Good luck and please let us know what happens.

We do it ourselves. We get on the county tax appraisal website and print out all of our neighbor's tax information. It has their sq ft, address, name, and last years tax amount. We also found that the tax assessor had our square footage wrong on our house so we provided them with our blue prints to prove where our sq footage lies. Also, be sure and provide any information about vacant homes for sale/rent near you. It makes a difference. We even got a refund from the first year we lived here even though we didn't protest because they had the sq ft wrong.

Check with "O'Connor and Associates". We have been using them for the past 4 years and have been happy thus far. They protest your taxes for you sometimes at no cost to you depending on how much is saved.

I used to be a member of the appraisal board for Galveston County. It was several years ago and may have changed,but you can call your tax district and ask for the procedures to protest your taxes.

What people did then (and I still do if warranted) is to make an appointment with a member of the appraisal district and go in for an informal hearing.

Take with you documents to indicate why their appraisal is incorrect: pictures of problems with the house, comparisons of your taxes with like and similar homes in your neighborhood (aea) take all pertinent information.
You can find comparisons by going to the Apprisal district office and looking up by address or on line.

Take all evidence you can find. If you cannot reach a decision with the district intself, you have the right to appeal before an appraisal board. That can be handled by the folks at the appraisal district, but you need to make the request.

Again, evidence in writing and pictures is your best
help.

Even before I served as a member of the board, I never used the services of an attorney. I found the people there reasonable.

You can hire an attorney, but I would suggest you do it yourself first.
You need to call and find out your deadline.

Good luck.
J.