The Appeals Process for Property Tax Appraisals

Property tax, or ad valorem tax, is a fact of life for people and businesses in Texas. As one of the few states in the United States without income tax, Texas counties rely on property tax as a source of revenue to pay for local services.  The counties use the money collected as property tax to pay for public schools, libraries, playgrounds, city streets, county roads, police, fire protection, emergency medical service and many other services.

There are two types of property taxes that that county taxing units collect, real property tax and business personal property tax (‘BPP”).  The Tex. Tax Code §1.04 defines real property as: (a) land; (b) an improvement; (c) a mine or quarry; (d) a mineral in place; (e) standing timber; or (f) an estate or interest, other than a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property or an interest securing payment or performance of an obligation in one of the previous five categories of properties. BPP is the tangible personal property that is owned by a business in production of income.  Tex. Tax Code §1.04(5) defines tangible personal property as property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or otherwise perceived by the senses, but does not include a document or other perceptible object that constitutes evidence of a valuable interest, claim, or right and has no negligible or intrinsic value.  Examples of tangible personal property, or business personal property:

Read More