Collin Strong, a grassroots organization in Collin County whose mission is to “educate the public, activate a grassroots network, & promote candidates and causes,” has been holding a series of property tax protest seminars.
In the seminars, led by Collin Strong President Brian Newman, homeowners are equipped with step-by-step actions they can take to fight their rising property tax bills. Texas Scorecard attended the organization’s April 29 presentation.
While tailored for Collin County, Newman explained the only difference homeowners in other counties will experience will be the deadlines to protest.
“For the bigger counties, it’s probably going to be May 17,” said Collin County Commissioner Darrell Hale, who was also there. “Smaller counties will probably push it out a little bit longer.”
Local Elections
One step they recommend to fight rising property taxes is electing local officials who will adopt the “no-new-revenue rate.” (As explained by city officials in a previous interview, your property tax bills are set when your local governments take the taxable value of your property and adopt the tax rate that will take the amount of your money they need to spend what they’ve put in the budget.)
What the no-new-revenue rate does is keep property tax bills in the aggregate stable year to year, a move Colleyville Mayor Richard Newton endorses.
“If your property value goes up 6 percent, [local elected officials] can actually lower your tax rate 6 percent and still get the same amount of money from you,” he told Texas Scorecard. “I would recommend that you ask your local officials to set that tax rate.”
Protesting Appraisals
As Collin Strong showed in their presentation, the other side of the battle is a homeowner protesting the value set by their local appraisal district.
The process starts when you have received notice of your home’s appraised value. Newman says if you haven’t received yours yet, you should be able to find it online at your appraisal district’s website. Be sure to contact your local appraisal district for the deadline to file a protest.
Collin Strong advises against telling your appraisal district what you think your house is worth before you go in person to protest. At this point, consider yourself in the preparation stage.
-- excerpt, rest at link above --
“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent people.” ― George Orwell
I have once appealed my valuation while I lived in Harris County and successfully cut $2500 from my yearly taxes. (I had the advantage of decades ago of taking a college course in real estate appraisal at night as an elective while working during the day so my wife did not have to attend night school by herself as she finished her masters. I have profited tremendously over the years on proper real estate valuation methods as I was reassigned frequently to different places in the country and had to move from home to home during my career).
A few comments on this summation of how to protest (which is excellent BTW):
My ARB was composed of only 3 members, and all appeared to be more like normal citizens rather than professionals such as those working in real estate. They were very nice and seemed to support the protestor rather than the tax authority.
The information on actual sales is what is most important. You have to possess sales numbers and details from a realtor or someone who can access MLS sales info, otherwise you will not win. In my case, I had a neighbor who was in corporate real estate who gave me the information I needed.
After I finished my presentation, the tax appraiser presented his case, which was basically unscripted and simply sitting in front of a computer extracting information on the fly, which was not very interesting to the ARB.
The ARB then decided to accept my judgment in my own estimated market valuation numbers, so it does make sense at times to state your own valuation rather than to let the appraiser come up with it.
At the very end, one of the ARB members asked me whether I would consider joining the ARB as a representative, which flattered me immensely, but also caused me to think about volunteer work following retirement.
I wound up after moving to East Texas of applying for and being accepted by the local judge as a member of the ARB. Unfortunately, I never initiated the service for personal reasons as my wife's health caused me to significantly alter my life's priorities.
"If the Union is dissolved, I shall return to my native State, and share the miseries of the people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none" Robert E. Lee, February 1861 following hearing of Texas secession.
Thank you! Can we get holder of a representative from Collin Strong to come speak to Limestone county interested parties through the Massey Foundation? We need to hear this.. Please advise
We are going to follow this advice from the article/guide:
Appraisal District’s Comparable Sales Data
Get the comparable sales data your appraisal district used when calculating your appraised value; they typically use anywhere from three to five comparable properties, and you have a right to see them. “When you call for those comps, you don’t want to tell them what you think your property is really worth,” Newman advised, “even if they ask for it.”
It will be very interesting to see what they are using...
I was a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Florida, and know how to develop a BPO or CMA (in fact, I was also certified by NAR as a Pricing Strategy Advisor), however... based on our location, getting comps is the real challenge... out in a completely rural area, with very few homesteads across miles, without a lot of sales activity, it is a real challenge to find "comparable sales" on which to base as assessment....
It will be very interesting to see what they are using as "comps" in their assessment......
“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent people.” ― George Orwell
Quote: mimi2020 wrote in post #4Thank you! Can we get holder of a representative from Collin Strong to come speak to Limestone county interested parties through the Massey Foundation? We need to hear this.. Please advise
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Wed May 12, 2021 10:35 am (Last edited: Wed May 12, 2021 10:36 am)
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