Appraisal Review Board - Information & Procedures
Comptroller's Video on How to Present a Protest
Dear Property Owner/Agent:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION - PLEASE READ!
Presenting a Protest
Prior to appearing before the Appraisal Review Board, a property owner should keep several points in mind:
- Be on time and prepared for your appointment. Due to the volume of owners that do not show for their appointments, several hearings are scheduled at the same time, and heard on a first come, first served basis. Fifteen minutes shall be allocated for each hearing (2 or less properties). The board may waive the time limit at its discretion. You should be ready to present your protest, along with supporting documentation, at the assigned time. Documentation would include comparable sales, recent appraisals, photos, etc.
*Owner/agent must provide a minimum of 7 copies of all protest evidence
to be presented. This allows one for the ARB secretary to be made a part
of the public record and for each board member. Photos -2 sets.
to be presented. This allows one for the ARB secretary to be made a part
of the public record and for each board member. Photos -2 sets.
CAD Staff will not be able to prepare your copies. Arrive prepared.
- Stick to the facts in your presentation. The Appraisal Review Board is empowered to deal with market value, agricultural use value, exemptions, and identification of taxing units, inequalities. Its members have NO responsibility for or control over Central Appraisal District operations, tax rates for the Taxing jurisdictions or politics. We suggest these topics not be included in your protest.
- Be direct and concise. All testimony should be directed to members of the Appraisal Review Board. Be sure that the information and comments you bring before the Board are limited to the MATTER STATED in your Notice of Protest.
- Recognize that the Board is serving in a quasi-judicial function. Much the same as a judge, the Appraisal Review Board listens to the presentations of both the property owner and Central Appraisal District and makes a determination. It is not a case of property owner versus the Central Appraisal District and the Appraisal Review Board.
- Prepare a simple but well organized presentation: The Board will hear the presentation of many property owners during its hearings, so it is to your advantage to stress key facts and figures. By writing them down in logical order and making copies for each Board member, you can better ensure that the Board has all the information it needs to make a sound decision.
a) exposed for sale in the open market for a reasonable time for the seller to find a purchaser;
b) both the seller and the purchaser know of all the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used and of the enforceable restrictions on its use; and
c) both the seller and purchaser seek to maximize their gains and neither is in a position to take advantage of the exigencies of the other.
b) both the seller and the purchaser know of all the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used and of the enforceable restrictions on its use; and
c) both the seller and purchaser seek to maximize their gains and neither is in a position to take advantage of the exigencies of the other.
Questions to help determine if market transaction:
Known to be for sale? Listed or posted?
Was it adjoining property you owned?
Were parties to the sale related?
Was financing unique, not available to general public? Owner financed?
Was it a forced sale: estate? Bid/Auction? Foreclosure? Tax sale? Court-ordered? In-Lieu of Foreclosure?
Suggested Procedures for Protesting Value
1. File a RENDITION for property with the Appraisal District by April 15th.
2. Read your NOTICE OF APPRAISED VALUE very carefully when it is received in May or early June.
3. Do some comparisons. Find other property like yours and check for equality and level of appraisal. Same Class, close in square footage and amenities, close in age are some examples to ensure a comparable property. Find and price houses similar to yours that are for sale or have sold in the last 12 months. What are properties selling for now? CAD website: whartoncad.net
4. If you disagree with the value on the Notice of Appraised Value, file a LETTER OF PROTEST with the Appraisal District, after reviewing your property with a staff Appraiser at the Central Appraisal District.
5. Be on time for your appointment with the Board of Review. Don’t forget your DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE and EXHIBITS. REMEMBER: have an extra 7 copies to leave with each Board member, CAD staff representative and file copy.
a) Real Property Evidence could include such items as pictures, sales amounts of similar properties and/or closing statements, if the sale meets the standard of a market transaction.
b) Personal Property Evidence could include a list of all assets, a copy of a current financial statement for your business, a bill of sale, contracts listing personal, and/or pictures.
b) Personal Property Evidence could include a list of all assets, a copy of a current financial statement for your business, a bill of sale, contracts listing personal, and/or pictures.
In your preparation, the CAD can print appraisal cards and small maps that you’d like to use. Due to the volume of requests, there is a small charge just to cover the supplies. To have time to compare and prepare, don’t wait until the last minute to make your requests.
If you have any questions, or need more information, contact the Central Appraisal District.
I. DESCRIPTION OF PROCEDURES
Pursuant to Section 41.66, Texas Property Tax Code (PTC), the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) for the Central Appraisal District of Wharton County (CAD) establishes the following procedures for hearings. It is the ARB’s desire to keep all procedures on a "common sense" approach and comply fully with the requirements listed in the PTC. If a question of procedure arises, to which the ARB needs further direction, the first step will be to review provisions of the PTC, and if necessary, seek advice of legal counsel.
At least 14 days before a hearing on a protest, the chief appraiser shall deliver a copy of "Property Taxpayer Remedies" and these hearing procedures to the person initiating the protest. The chief appraiser shall inform the protesting party that he or she may inspect and may obtain a copy of the data, schedules, formulas, and all other information that will be introduced at the hearing. The charge of the copies should reflect legal copying charges, $.25 per page for copy, and an additional charge for gathering/providing information, but not to exceed $15. for each residential account, and $25. per account for other types of property. Requested information that was not made available in a timely fashion cannot be used as evidence in the hearing. Sales Data is considered confidential information, per HB 2188, and protesting parties will be required to sign a statement confirming the information will be held confidential. Once the signed statement and payment for copies has been received by the CAD, the requested information will be submitted to the requesting party. Information is considered "available" upon notification of amount due.
A property owner of a property under protest with a market value of $1 million or less, may submit to the appraisal district, a certified appraisal of property value at least 14 days before the hearing. The certified appraisal must represent a market value as of January 1, be within 180 days of the hearing date, notarized as sworn information and meet additional requirements listed in PTC Section 41.43(a-2).
Hearing procedures, to the greatest extent practicable, shall be informal. Each party to a hearing is entitled to offer evidence, examine or cross-examine witnesses or other parties, and present argument on the matters subject to the hearing. A property owner who is entitled to appear at a hearing may appear himself; by a representative with written authorization signed by the owner; or by his duly appointed agent with a signed Agent Form, or by written, sworn affidavit in its original form. A taxing unit entitled to challenge may appear by a designated agent. Hearings are open to the public, except when legal notice is given of an executive session to consider pending or contemplated litigation or any other matter as provided by law. A copy of these hearing procedures shall be posted in a prominent place in the room in which the hearing is held.
An employee of the CAD will be designated as secretary to the ARB. This person, in accordance with Chapter 41 and other applicable sections of the PTC, shall schedule hearings and notify the owner/agent of the hearing.
The ARB must hear a protest if the taxpayer initiating the protest timely files a notice of protest pursuant to PTC 41.44. The ARB may hear a protest that was not timely filed, only if the property owner shows good cause for late filing. The ARB may make the determination of good cause based upon the property’s owner written explanation or may schedule a hearing or meeting upon the matter for determination by the ARB.
Property owners are entitled to one postponement of the hearing on their protest without cause if they have not designated an agent to represent them at the hearing. The property owner can make the request for reschedule by phone, fax, mail, email at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled hearing date.
In addition, property owners or their agent are also entitled to postpone the hearing if they show good cause for the postponement, or if the chief appraiser consents to the postponement. "Good cause" is defined in the PTC, section 41.45(e), (d) and (g). The request for a good cause postponement is to be made in writing to the ARB by fax, mail, email or in person at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled hearing date. The ARB will make the determination for the postponement based on the cause shown by the owner/agent. Remember, by law, the ARB must complete their work by July 20th. The ARB will conduct hearings on a weekday evening, time of evening hearings begin at 6:00 pm. The dates of the hearings will be scheduled as needed.
When a 25.25 or 41.411 protest is received, the ARB Chairperson will be notified that a protest has been filed, the owner/agent will receive a letter from the ARB stating that the protest was received, and that the hearing will be scheduled in June.
III. HEARING PROCEDURES
1. The secretary shall schedule several protests per hearing session per day. The protests shall be heard as scheduled on a first come first serve basis. If the protesting party is late, the protest shall be moved to the end of the session or another time as determined by the ARB presiding officer.
2. Fifteen minutes shall be allocated for each hearing (2 or less properties). The ARB may waive the time limit at its discretion.
3. At the beginning of each hearing, the secretary to the ARB will identify the cause number, account number, owner, location of subject and nature of the protest.
4. The ARB members shall execute an affidavit stating they have had no prior communications from any party relating to the subject property.
5. Each person that will address the ARB during the course of the appointed hearing shall sign an Oath of Sworn Testimony, per Property Tax Code 41.67(a). The CAD representatives will sign an Oath of Sworn Testimony upon their first appearance of the day and understand that they are under that Oath for all remaining appearances of that day.
6. The owner/agent shall present witnesses, documentary evidence, and related arguments and will be allotted approximately five minutes. The ARB may cross-examine the parties or witnesses for a reasonable time as determined by the presiding officer.
*** Any questions and/or comments the owner/agent may have for the CAD will be addressed to the ARB Chairperson, who will in turn address the CAD.
The CAD will then present witnesses, documentary evidence, and related arguments and will be allotted approximately five minutes. The ARB may cross-examine these witnesses or the parties for a reasonable time as determined by the presiding officer.
*** Any questions and/or comments the CAD may have for the owner/agent will be addressed to the ARB Chairperson, who will in turn address the owner/agent.
All cross-examination shall be informal with all questions concerning procedure determined by the presiding officer. The ARB will exclude irrelevant testimony and may instruct all parties to confine testimony and evidence to matters relevant to the issues before the ARB.
Any remaining time may be used for rebuttal, questions by the ARB, or closing statements. The ARB may alter the order of the procedures for any hearing.
7. The ARB will make its final determination by vote recorded by the secretary to the ARB at the conclusion of the hearing. The Order Determining Protest shall be mailed by certified mail to the owner/agent as soon as practicable.
IV. RECORDS OF HEARINGS and AUDIO & VIDEO PROCEDURES
The ARB shall keep such records of its hearings as are required by law and by rule of the State comptroller of Public Accounts. All hearings will be audio recorded by the CAD. The audio recordings are a part of the open records and evidence presented by both parties. Audio recordings will be made available to the public after the ARB has turned the appraisal records over to the CAD, with 2 weeks notice, at the expense of the requestor for a minimum charge of $20.00 per recording. Review of audio recordings will be allowed in the offices of the CAD. The owner/agent may also audiotape the proceeding.
Video equipment must be set up in an area designated by the ARB. Equipment must be set up between 8:00 am and 8:30 am the day of the hearing so as not to disrupt other hearings. Equipment cannot be removed until the end of the last hearing of the day. Owner/agent is responsible to provide someone to operate the equipment. It must be stationary and not disruptive to the hearing process.
V. AFFIDAVITS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE
The property owner may offer evidence or argument by affidavit without personally appearing if the owner attests to the affidavit before an officer authorized to administer oaths or notary and submits the ORIGINAL affidavit prior to the scheduled hearing. Faxed or email affidavits are not accepted.
VI. EX PARTE CONTACT and CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The board shall not consider any information on a protest that is not presented to the board during the protest hearing, PTC 41.66. An ARB member may not communicate with another person regarding any matter relating to a protest other than matters necessary for the scheduling of hearings or in other proceedings before the ARB at which the property is compared to other property or used in a sample of properties.
An ARB member may not participate in any hearing in which that member has ownership interest in the subject of the protest. An ARB member may not participate in the hearing in which the member is related by affinity within the second degree or by consanguinity within the third degree.
VII. RULINGS and SUBPOENAS
The Chairperson shall preside over all hearings of the ARB. The chairperson may vote or make motions in any matter before the ARB. Roberts Rule’s of Order shall govern the proceedings.
The board, sitting as a whole, may subpoena witnesses or books, records, or other documents. PTC Sections 22.27 & 41.61, will govern the process by which the ARB proceeds with a subpoena.
Persons to whom a subpoena is directed are entitled to compensation:
Reasonable cost of producing any requested documents subpoenaed as approved by the ARB;
Mileage of $0.555 a mile for going and returning from the place of proceedings;
Fee of $50 per day for each whole or partial day the individual is needed at the proceedings.
Appraisal Review Board for the Central Appraisal District of Wharton County Hearing Procedures Adopted on this 23rd day of May, 2012.
I. OFFICERS
A. The officers of the Appraisal Review Board are the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and the Secretary.
B. The Central Appraisal District Board of Directors shall select the chairperson and the secretary from among the members of the appraisal review board as per Property Tax Code 6.42. The vice- chairperson will be elected as soon as possible after the new board members are appointed. The vice-chairperson shall be elected from ARB members by a simple majority vote of those present and voting.
C. The chairperson will preside over the meetings of the board and perform such other responsibilities as these rules require.
D. The secretary shall be responsible for overseeing the keeping of minutes for all of the board meetings, overseeing the keeping of all records of the board and for determining that all records by the board are sent. The secretary may delegate any of the above responsibilities to members of the appraisal staff provided by the Chief Appraiser for that purpose. The secretary will perform such other responsibilities as these rules and the law require.
E. The vice-chairperson will perform the duties of the chairperson in the absence of the chairperson and assist the chairperson in his performance of duties at the chairperson’s request.
II. MEETINGS
A. Robert’s Rules of Order will govern the conduct of all meetings of the ARB other than hearings. Where Robert’s Rules are in conflict with the rules of this board, the rules of the board will govern. The person chairing the board or panel may vote or make motions on any matter.
B. Once the ARB five member panel has been officially appointed, the ARB may meet at any time at the call of the chairperson. A majority of the board may call a meeting of the board at any time.