Mullen
Consulting, LLC
Property
and Other Tax Consulting
Harris County Appraisal District
Interesting Facts
·
Nearly 375,000 protests were filed
in Harris County in 2007, the highest amount since the inception of the
Appraisal District in 1984.
·
In 2007, 1 in 4 protests were not
settled informally and went to a formal hearing before the Appraisal Review
Board.
·
According to HCAD, it raised 2008 residential
market values 6.4% overall. 49% of
all accounts increased, 11% decreased, and 40% were not changed from the
previous year.
·
HCAD is not required to mail you a
Notice of Assessed Value unless the market value of your property has changed.
·
Following the adoption of HB 3496,
HCAD was required to notice all residential homesteads by April 1, 2008, or as
soon as possible after that date.
The deadline to protest was moved up to April 30, 2008. HOWEVER,
the existing statute to file a protest the later of May 31 (June 2 for 2008),
or 30 days after the date of receipt of the Notice of Assessed Value is still
valid – therefore, the last day to protest a residential homestead
property is the later of June 2, 2008 or 30 days after the date of receipt of
the Notice of Assessed Value.
·
Following the adoption of HB 3024,
residential property with a market or appraised value of $1 million or less,
the introduction of a valid appraisal performed within 180 days of the scheduled
hearing will shift HCAD’s burden of proof from a preponderance of
evidence to clear and convincing.
This means that they will have to show more than just their normal
valuation in order to counter the weight of the appraisal as evidence.
·
HB538 established new rules for
property owners. By law, HCAD must
allow for one postponement without cause to a property owner. Additional postponements may be granted
with reasonable cause. The hearing
can be postponed for up to 30 days, and may be requested via telephone, fax,
mail, e-mail or in person.