There are lots of reasons that some people don’t protest their property tax valuations. Some people like the idea of having a high valuation because it makes them feel richer. Some people are too busy to save hundreds of dollars in property taxes every year. Some people just aren’t into money, man.
For the rest of us, time is running out. Today is the last day to file a protest!
Today, by the way, is May 15. Some people just aren’t into time, man.
Here’s a guide to filing your protest, from those nice people at the El Paso Times.
A property owner can file a protest of their property’s appraised tax value by mail or online to the El Paso Central Appraisal District at epcad.org/ProtestsAndAppeals.
The deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the property owner receives an appraisal notice, whichever date is later. Most people’s deadline is May 15.
Protest forms for mailed-in protests are included in appraisal notices sent to property owners. Additional forms are available online at epcad.org/Home/Forms.
Evidence needs to be presented either in person or online to help prove that a property is not appraised correctly. It could be due to bad conditions of the property or due to a home’s appraisal being higher than similar properties in a neighborhood.
Evidence can include photos of the property, repair estimates and home sale prices for similar properties in an owner’s neighborhood.
Evidence needs to be uploaded to a property owner’s online file for online protests, or taken in person when meeting with a district appraiser or at a hearing with one of the Appraisal Review Boards, or ARB.
For mailed in protests, a property owner will be notified when the owner can meet informally with a district appraiser to determine whether an agreement can be reached on an appraised value. If an agreement can’t be reached, then the owner can have the case heard the same day by the ARB, and it will decide the appraised value.
For online protests, the owner is notified, by email, of the district’s determination on what value it accepts on the owner’s property. If the owner disagrees, then the owner is scheduled for a hearing with the ARB.
So tell your significant other to put down that remote control and get to work.
http://www.fightmytax.com
You bet I’m protesting. An 8% increase in one year is too much. I would recommend that anyone who is planning on protesting use the mail rather than online option. The online option is not user friendly. I called the Appraisal District for help and was given a direct telephone number to call but no one answers at that number. I left a message but may never get a call back. In the meantime, I’m sending it by mail. Better yet, I will drop it off at the Appraisal District office.
In all fairness, the Appraisal District did call back today. In the meantime, I had sent a written protest.