Your Taxpayer's Bill of Rights

As a homeowner, the Texas constitution grants you these rights:

1. You have the right to equal and uniform taxation.
2. You have the right to ensure that your property is appraised uniformly with similar property in your county.
3. You have the right to have your property appraised according to generally accepted appraisal techniques and other requirements of law.
4. You have the right to receive exemptions or other tax relief for which you qualify and apply timely.
5. You have the right to notice of property value increases, exemption changes and estimated tax amounts.
6. You have the right to inspect non-confidential information used to appraise your property.
7. You have the right to protest your property’s value and other appraisal matters to an appraisal review board composed of an impartial group of citizens in your community.
8. You have the right to appeal the appraisal review board’s decision to district court in the county where the property is located.
9. You have the right to fair treatment by the appraisal district, the appraisal review board and the tax assessor-collector.
10. You have the right to voice your opinions at open public meetings about proposed tax rates and to ask questions of the governing body responsible for setting tax rates.
11. You have the right to petition a local government to call an election to limit a tax increase in certain circumstances.
12. You have the right to receive a free copy of the pamphlet entitled Property Taxpayer Remedies published by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

As a savvy homeowner, you should take advantage of your legal rights, and at a minimum monitor your property’s value (and its tax value).