Taxpayer Information Sheet

You are in the process of filing a petition with the Value Adjustment Board (the VAB) to protest the valuation placed on your property (real or personal property) by the property appraiser for the 2019 tax year. This information sheet is designed to assist you in understanding the process and the requirements involved in proving your case.

The VAB conducts hearing to determine whether or not a taxpayer is entitled to a reduction in assessed value for the tax year in question. The critical date for determining the value of your property for tax purposes is January 1, 2019 (“the taxing date”). Subject to a special limitation on annual increases in the assessed value of qualified homestead property, your property should have been assessed at a value equal to its “fair market value” on the taxing date by the Property Appraiser. If however, your property was assessed at a value in excess of “fair market value” has been defined as the price at which a property would sell in the open market for cash or its equivalent, between parties having equal knowledge of the property’s characteristics and potential use, neither being under any undue pressure to either buy or sell.

At the VAB hearing to be schedule in your case, you must be prepared to prove that, as of January 1, 2019, your property was assessed at a value that exceeded “fair market value”. If you cannot clearly demonstrate that fact, then the VAB has no authority to reduce the assessed value previously determined by the Property Appraiser. The property appraiser’s valuation is presumed to be correct unless you can prove otherwise

In order for you to prove your case and receive tax relief, you should generally be prepared to testify and submit evidence * at the VAB hearing which will establish that on January 1, 2019, your property had an assesses value that was greater than its “fair market value”. To do so, you should bring to the hearing the following types of documentary evidence, if available, in support of your claim of over assessment(copies are recommended since they will be kept by the VAB and not returned):

1. Pictures portraying the property’s condition(as of January 1, 2019
2. Estimates and/or bills or repair (should be dated close to or after January 1, 2019).

1. Anything that will help show that the assessed value is incorrect (e.g. appraisals, area sales, surveys, pictures, etc.)
2. Copy of closing statement(s) if there has been a sale(s) in the previous three (3) years.
3. Appraisals made on the property in connection with mortgage financing or the sale thereof, or for any other purpose.
4. Comparable sales date (i.e. prices at which similar, nearby properties have sold, on or about the taxing date).
5. For personal property, federal tax return, depreciation schedules, and insurance coverage.**

1. Federal tax returns and financial statements for the past three (3) years.
2. Supporting documents should include:

The Board may consider, as evidence, the assessment of comparable properties within homogeneous areas or neighborhoods. However, if the comparable has an assessed value that is lower than its fair market value, the Board has no authority to lower petitioner’s value based solely on the comparable property.

*PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE YOU INTEND TO REPLY ON AT THE VAB HEARING TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIM OF OVER ASSESSMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE PROPERTY APPRAISER SUFFICIENTLY PRIOR TO THE HEARING TO ENABLE SUCH DOCUMENTS TO BE EXAMINED AND ANALYZED. IF SUCH DOCUMENTS ARE NOT SUBMITTED SUFFICIENTLY PRIOR TO THE HEARING, THEN THE VAB CANNOT CONSIDER SUCH EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF YOUR CLAIM.PLEASE CONSULT THE CLERK’S WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE EXCHANGE OF DOCUMENTS WITH THE PROPERTY APPRAISER PRIOR TO THE HEARING.

**PROPERTY PERSONAL APPEALS: UNLESS PREVIOUSLY FILED, A 2019 PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RETURN MUST BE FILLED WITH THE PROPERTY APPRAISER ON OR BEFORE .FAILURE TO FILE WILL BE DEEMED TO CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF TAXPAYER’S RIGHT TO CONTEST THE ASSESSMENT, AND NO VAB HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED ON THIS PETITION.