Property tax question

[mrvmax]

Just protested my Galveston County property taxes. I showed the auditor that my property is unequally appraised, I am paying more per square foot that 75% of my immediate neighbors. I went to the ARB and presented graphs and charts showing this. I protested claiming unequal taxation. The ARB and auditor claim that equal taxation means that my house should be taxed equally with houses of the same square footage, not equally with other houses around me. Anyone know where equal taxation would be defined? I really do not believe the ARB or auditor unless I can read it myself.

[M9FAN]

Just protested my Galveston County property taxes. I showed the auditor that my property is unequally appraised, I am paying more per square foot that 75% of my immediate neighbors. I went to the ARB and presented graphs and charts showing this. I protested claiming unequal taxation. The ARB and auditor claim that equal taxation means that my house should be taxed equally with houses of the same square footage, not equally with other houses around me. Anyone know where equal taxation would be defined? I really do not believe the ARB or auditor unless I can read it myself.

I'm a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser involved in Uniform & Equal litigation here in Harris county so I know a little bit about what it is that you're asking.

The Texas Property Tax Code, specifically section 42.26(a)(3), states that "The district court shall grant relief on the ground that a property is appraised unequally if: the appraised value of the property exceeds the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties appropriately adjusted." (The code does not define "reasonable number of comparables" nor does it define "appropriate adjustments").

Although the tax code makes no mention of whether or not comparables must contain the same square footage as the subject property or exist on the same street or even in the same neighborhood as the subject, it does inherently state that the comparable properties that you select must be "comparable". In other words, if you have to make a number of significant adjustments to a "comparable" property to make it truly comparable to the subject property, it's likely that the "comparable" you selected wasn't so comparable to begin with. Make sense? The GCAD ARB is not incorrect in saying that the chosen comparable properties should be close to the subject's improvement size but they should go on to say that the comparables should also be similar in location (same neighborhood), year built, level-of-renovation, physical condition, quality of construction, etc.

Hope this proves somewhat helpful...

[mrvmax]

Thanks, that helps. I'm trying to build my case for next year.