Not all houses are equal – so what does that mean for you and your property value?

Texas law guarantees your right to protest the value of your home, so here’s how you can fight to lower your dent in property taxes.

Margaret Penny loves to play bridge with friends.

Property owners should start receiving their property tax appraisals at the beginning of April. Many property owners will then have to decide whether they agree with the appraisal, and if not, whether they will file a protest.

By now, most homeowners have received property tax appraisals in the mail. If your jaw hit the floor when you opened yours, you should protest your home’s market value with your county appraisal district. Here are some ideas to get your appraisal and your property taxes lowered.

HOUSTON – Here’s a little help for homeowners who have property damage from last week’s severe weather. The Harris County Appraisal District says you can apply for a temporary disaster exemption. A change in state law after Hurricane Harvey allows a property that is at least 15% damaged by a governor-declared disaster area to receive a temporary exemption of a portion of the appraised value of the property. The disaster application form can be found online at www.hcad.org under FORMS > General Information > Form 50-312, Temporary Exemption for Property Damaged by Disaster. The form should be mailed to the address in the top left of the form, which is Harris County Appraisal District, Information and Assistance Division, P.O.

If you own the home where you live, you should have a homestead exemption applied to your account. It will lower your property taxes by 20%. The more your house is worth, the more you’ll save on property taxes. Why your homestead exemption could go awayEven though we think we can set it and forget it, there is one reason why the homestead exemption can fall off and stick you with a much higher property tax bill. They presume that you’ve moved out.”Atkins says the appraisal district will cancel your homestead exemption without alerting you.

HOUSTON – The Harris County Appraisal Review Board (ARB) needs new members to preside over property tax protest hearings. Three board members serve at each hearing but there are 190 board members in any given year. Currently, they need 40 new board members. Board members are paid per diem. Members serve one or two years, as appointed by the state administrative judge.

Now, some homeowners are calling on the Harris County Appraisal District to cut taxpayers some slack. Taxpayers’ plea for relief“Here’s your stimulus check for $1,200; and here’s your bill for $4,000 for your property tax,” quipped retired southwest Houston homeowner Ed Hobson. “We have to follow the state tax code.”Barnett said the tax code requires that properties in Harris County be appraised on Jan. 1 of every year. Rather than changing the tax code and laws, he said taxing and other government agencies will have to be flexible. What you can do if your property appraisal increasedLike every year, you can protest your appraisal online using iSettle or iFile.