Suing to appeal an unsatisfactory appraisal review board decision is straightforward in Texas. The state property tax system provides taxpayers with a pragmatic approach to air their valuation disputes before the courts, without the delay and headache frequently experienced in other types of litigation. Yet many taxpayers choose not to appeal, relinquishing the opportunity to achieve significant tax savings. Do not be so shortsighted.
Texans enjoy one of the most fair property tax protest systems in the country, beginning with the right to contest their appraised values through an administrative process. If they do not like the result, they can file a lawsuit that provides a fresh start, turning the valuation issue over to a judge or jury, whichever the parties prefer. And if the taxpayer is unsatisfied with the court’s decision, he or she can seek review from a state appellate court and even the State Supreme Court.
Not all states provide such a favorable review process. Texas is special.
Daniel Smith, Popp Hutcheson PLLC
Built into the Texas Tax Code are processes and requirements that make litigating property tax appeals more efficient and less procedurally burdensome for taxpayers, even if an appeal advances to the state’s highest court. Here are a few of Texas’ answers to common taxpayer worries.
Are you concerned that your property tax appeal will be a years-long slog? Property owners who have been involved in lawsuits before may fear that a property tax appeal means protracted litigation, mired in delay and gamesmanship. Fortunately, the Texas Tax Code limits such behavior by providing numerous tools that can help bring the litigation to a quick resolution, like the ones mentioned below. These features do not apply in the initial filing to appeal an assessment, and are peculiar to property tax lawsuits.
Was your lawsuit filed in the wrong property owner’s name? In most types of litigation, a defect in parties could be fatal to a claim, especially if there is a tight window of time in which to file the lawsuit. In Texas, however, a property tax appeal continues despite having the wrong plaintiff so long as the property itself was the subject of an administrative order, the lawsuit was filed on time and the lawsuit sufficiently describes the property at issue. There is no jurisdictional problem.
Did you miss the deadline to protest the appraised value? There are deadline-driven, jurisdictional prerequisites to pursuing a property tax protest, but Texas law provides some limited “back stop” protection in the event these deadlines are missed. For instance, at any time before Feb. 1, when the taxes become delinquent, a property owner may file a motion with the appraisal district to change an incorrectly appraised value that exceeds the correct appraised value by one-third. This is consistent with other statutes designed to be fair, so that property owners can efficiently challenge excessively appraised values.
Would you like to have something akin to a trial, but not necessarily be bound by the result? The Texas Tax Code allows a property owner to take the dispute to non-binding arbitration. This is particularly helpful when the parties would like to get a sense of what might happen if the matter goes to trial. An independent, third-party arbiter decides who is right and issues a ruling on the valuation question. This procedure can drive more serious settlement discussions. Although the result is non-binding, it may nonetheless be admitted into evidence at trial for the judge and jury to see.
Would you like the appraisal district to meet with you early in the case to discuss settlement? Upon written request by either side, the parties or their attorneys must meet and make a good-faith effort to resolve the matter. The meeting must take place within 120 days after the written request is delivered. If the appraisal district cannot meet this deadline, the deadline for property owners and the appraisal district to meet will be moved closer to the trial date – 60 days before trial for parties seeking affirmative relief to their complaint, 30 days before trial for all other experts. This allows more time for the parties to discuss settlement with a temporary reprieve from the pressure of having to engage experts and pay for costly appraisals.
Would you like to ensure that both sides produce their expert reports at the same time? Property owners can do this by, within 120 days of filing suit, making a written settlement offer and identifying which cause of action is the basis for its appeal, meaning a claim for either excessive appraisal or unequal appraisal. At this time, the taxpayer must request alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation.
By triggering this process, property owners may protect their expert’s valuation work from being used against them by the appraisal district’s expert appraiser when preparing an opposing report. If property owners had to produce their expert appraisal reports first, the appraisal district’s expert would likely try to discredit them in the opposing analysis. This “simultaneous exchange” requirement removes the unfair advantage that the appraisal district would otherwise have.
Property owners should not hesitate to continue their property tax protests beyond the appraisal review board level. In Texas, litigation adds numerous tools to the taxpayer’s toolbox that can help property owners achieve fair property tax assessments.
— By Daniel R. Smith, principal and general counsel for Austin-based law firm Popp Hutcheson PLLC, the Texas member of the American Property Tax Counsel, the national affiliation of property tax attorneys. This article first appeared in the July issue of Texas Real Estate Business magazine.