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Travis Central Appraisal District - How to Minimize the Property Tax Assessments set by the Travis Central Appraisal District
Travis Central Appraisal District estimates the market value for 1.6 million parcels of real estate with a staff of about 150 appraisers. That's an average of over 10,000 parcels per appraiser per year! While they value a large number of properties annually, you can focus intense attention on reducing the value of your property.
You can minimize your property taxes with simple steps:
- File a protest by May 31st for market value and unequal appraisal
- Obtain the Travis Central Appraisal District evidence two weeks before the hearing
- Review evidence for both unequal appraisal and market value
- Attend the informal and/or appraisal review board (ARB) hearing at the Travis Central Appraisal District. In many cases, you can attend a hearing prior to the scheduled date. TCAD prefers to have hearings prior to rather than after the scheduled hearing date.
- Repeat these steps annually.
Property owners often ask, "I appealed my property taxes at the Travis Central Appraisal District last year and obtained a reduction. Travis Central Appraisal District did not increase my assessed value. Should I protest my property taxes again this year?"
The answer is, "Yes, you should protest." There are 2 reasons you should protest the assessed value established by the Travis Central Appraisal District each year:
- The prior years value set an "anchor value" for the current year's property tax protest. If your value was $200,000 last year and the current year's proposed value is $220,000, there is a tendency to set the value at or slightly above last year's value. In the case, a typical result might be $200,000 to $210,000. However, if they had appealed at the Travis Central Appraisal District the prior year and reduced the value to $185,000, a typical settlement might be $185,000 - $195,000. In either case, the hearing after the value was either similar to the prior year's value or between the values for the prior and current year. Resettling the "base value" or "anchor value" each year helps in the subsequent years appeal. Property tax appeals at Travis Central Appraisal District are an iterative process.
- Most appeals at Travis Central Appraisal District are successful. About 75-80% of the property tax appeals conducted by O'Connor & Associates at Travis Central Appraisal District result in lower property taxes. There are several reasons most appeals by property owners at TCAD are successful. These include TCAD's desire to resolve appeals informally rather than send them to the ARB. It is also because mass appraisal is not a precisely accurate process.
Experience shows that when property owners appeal, prepare for the Travis Central Appraisal District hearings and attend the hearing(s), they will usually be successful.
Property tax consultants are willing to handle the property tax protest process at Travis Central Appraisal District for a portion of the property tax savings. While there is a cost when hiring a property tax consultant, you realize property tax savings. The property tax savings versus the cost of a property tax consultant are more significant when considering the iterative nature of the property tax appeal process.
Property Tax Tip #1: Appealing Property Taxes for Your Home
Property Tax Tip #2: Preparing for Your Property Tax Hearing
Property Tax Tip #3: The Hearing Process
Hire O'Connor & Associates to appeal high property taxes. You pay NOTHING unless we save you money!
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