Tips for your Property Tax Appraisal Hearing

18 Tips on How to Avoid Losing Your Tax Appraisal Hearing

• Do not get into a shouting match. 
• Forget about tax rates. The tax rate is not decided by the appraiser and has no place in either the Informal Meeting or the Formal Meeting. 
•  Do not talk about your inability to pay taxes. Not being able to afford paying taxes is immaterial. 
•  Do not assume that the purchase price reflects true value unless the home was acquired within six months before or after January 1^st of the appraisal year. Some appraisal districts use a time adjusted value. 
•  Do not compare your property to properties that are located outside of the CAD determined neighborhood or homogeneous subdivision. Find out your neighborhood boundaries before the hearing, not after! 
•  Do not show front-view photographs of your neighbors’ properties without showing a front view of your property. 
•  Crime and noise influences on your property values are difficult to establish unless you can show that you and your neighbors are unduly and repeatedly threatened. If actual sales have been affected, this makes for a stronger argument. 
•  Do not rest your argument entirely on minor settlement cracks in the walls, floors, and ceiling. Many homes in the Austin area are subject to minor stress cracks and settling. Should you consider the situation serious obtain a construction bid to correct the issue and provide that. 
•  Leaking roofs are considered by some CADs and ARB panels to be due to the lack of normal maintenance often reimbursable by insurance but in any event not due an adjustment. 
•  Do not volunteer information about improvements you have made to your property. Obviously if asked, reply in the simplest terms possible. The CAD may be aware of remodeling from reviews of building permits, drive by or aerial photography. 
•  Do not forget you have the right to cross examine the appraiser during the Formal Hearing. 
•  Use your special knowledge of the detrimental aspects of your neighborhood and property. 
•  If the appraiser is not comparing reasonably comparable properties be sure to not this out to the appraiser during an Informal Meeting or the Hearing Panel at the Formal Hearing. 
•  First impressions count so we suggest that you dress professionally. 
•  Avoid sexist or discriminatory remarks. 
•  Make eye contact during your presentation. 
•  Provide handouts and photos to each panel member therefore four copies. 
• Work diligently to make your presentations uncomplicated and simple.*

*Article Courtesy of Gordon Gorychka