PROPERTY SEARCH
WHAT IS THE PROTEST DATABASE ? H.B. NO. 796
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT relating to the creation and maintenance by an appraisal district of a publicly available Internet database of information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 26.17 (c), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The database must provide a link to: (1) the Internet website used by each taxing unit in which the property is located to post the information described by Section 26.18; and (2) the Internet database created by the chief appraiser under Section 41.13 that contains information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the appraisal district.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 41, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 41.13 to read as tollows:
Sec. 41.13. PROTEST HEARING DATABASE. (a The chief appraiser of each appraisal district shall create and maintain a publicly available and searchable Internet database that contains information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the district. (b) For each protest hearing conducted by the appraisal review board, the database must contain: (1) the name of each board member who attended the hearing; (2) the date and time of the hearing; (3) the account number and category for the property that was the subject of the hearing; (4) the appraised value according to the appraisal district and the property owner's asserted value of the property that was the subject of the hearing; and (5) the board's determination of the protest, including the board's determination of the value of the property if the hearing was to consider a protest regarding appraised value. (c) The chief appraiser shall update the database not later than October 1 of each year.
"The 88th Texas Legislature enacted H.B. NO. 796, which mandated the creation of an internet property protest database. This information is to be publicly maintained by the appraisal district of FLOYD County"
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Appraisal District
An appraisal district is a county-level entity that is responsible for assessing property values for taxation purposes.
Appraisal Review Board
An Appraisal Review Board (ARB) is a panel of citizens that resolves disputes between property owners and appraisal districts.
Appraised Value
The appraised value is the value of a property determined by a professional appraiser, often serving as the capped value for tax purposes.
Asserted Value
The asserted value is the opinion of value provided by the property owner and/or their authorized representative.
Determined Value
The determined value is the value that is determined by the appraisal review board.
Property Protest
You can protest if you disagree with the appraisal district’s valuation or actions regarding your property. If dissatisfied with the Appraisal Review Board's (ARB) decision, you have the right to appeal.
Protest Hearing
A protest hearing is an informal meeting, typically lasting about 15 minutes, to determine if a property's assessment should be lowered after a protest is filed. The property owner may testify or be represented by a lawyer.
Protest Hearing Database
The chief appraiser of each appraisal district shall create and maintain a publicly available and searchable Internet database that contains information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the district..