Deadline approaching for property owners to protest new market values

HOUSTON – The deadline for Harris County property owners to protest the market value set by the appraisal district is approaching fast.

Property owners who believe there is an error have until May 31 to complete a protest form that was included in the property value notice the Harris County Appraisal District sent to each property owner in April. A Notice of Protest form can also be downloaded from the district's website.

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Instructions for filling out the form are located in the upper-left corner of the form.

The form may be filled out online, brought to HCAD's office at 13013 Northwest Freeway, or mailed to P.O. Box 922004, Houston, TX, 77292-2004, but must be postmarked by May 31.

Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger encouraged property owners to use HCAD’s online iFile system to submit their protest. The chief appraiser noted that unique iFile numbers are printed on the face of the 2017 value notices near the property account number. Without this number, the iFile system cannot be used for filing a protest for security reasons.

“Texas law requires that property be appraised at its January 1 market value,” Altinger said. “The purpose of the appraisal is to allocate the tax burden fairly among all owners of taxable property. The actual amount of tax due is determined by the tax rate set in the fall by the governing body of each jurisdiction such as county, city, school district or MUD. The appraisal district has no involvement in the rate setting process.”

If you have any questions concerning protesting your market value, please call the appraisal district’s information center at 713-957-7800.

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