New online guide for Harris County homeowners to help protest property taxes

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Homeowners in Harris County are starting to receive appraisal notices in the mail, which tell them how much they can expect to pay in property taxes.

Even if it looks like your property taxes are not increasing, homeowners are encouraged to file a protest if they think their property has been unfairly appraised.

Protesting the appraised value is your right, and it can be fairly easy depending on the case you make.

A new online guide to help you through the process is available. It's from ABC13's partners with theHouston Chronicle. They've put together what they call the ultimate guide to protesting your property taxes in Harris County. The guide explains what's on your appraisal notice, the most common grounds for protest, how to gather evidence for your protest and helps you prepare for the formal hearing.

ABC13's Jeff Ehling spoke with Caroline Ghisolfi, the Houston Chronicle's Deputy Data Editor. She says one of the most common types of protest is an equal appraisal protest if you think your home's value is unfairly compared to your neighbors or comparable homes around you. Ghisolfi says that protests can take a lot of time.

"You have to go on to HCAD's website and look for homes that you think are similar to yours and then pull together a median and do some stats to actually get to that value that you think you should propose to HCAD. If you go on our website, you can try our tool. That will do it for you in seconds. It will pull up your list of comps and comparable homes that are usually in your neighborhood. And it will allow you to look at that median value that you want to bring to HCAD to protest your property appraisal," Ghisolfi said.

Appraisal notices for Harris County are sent out around April 15. You have until May 15 to file your protest, or 30 days after your appraisal notice is mailed, whichever is later.

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