Texas Allows for Property Tax Hearing to be Conducted by Conference Call

Legal Alerts

1.02.18

There is now a new way to conduct a property tax appeal hearing in Texas. The Texas Legislature passed a property tax-related bill for Chapter 41 tax protests that allows for a hearing before the Appraisal Review Board to be conducted by conference call.

House Bill 455, signed by the Governor on May 23, 2017, now allows for a hearing before the Appraisal Review Board (“ARB”) to be conducted by conference call.

A property owner may notify the ARB that it intends to appear by telephone conference in the owner’s notice of protest or by written notice filed by with the ARB at least 10 days before the date of the hearing.

The ARB, on its own, may also propose to conduct the hearing by conference call if the owner agrees.

A property owner does not waive the right to appear in person at a hearing by submitting an affidavit or by electing to appear by telephone conference call. The board may consider an affidavit only if the property owner does not appear in person at the hearing.

For scheduling purposes, the property owner must state in the affidavit that the property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing or that the property owner intends to appear by conference call and that the affidavit may be used only if the property owner does not appear at the hearing in person.

If the property owner does not state in the affidavit whether the owner intends to appear at the hearing and has not elected to appear by telephone conference call, the board shall consider the filing of the affidavit as an indication that the property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing.

Please contact a Member of Dykema’s Property Tax Appeal practice group for additional information on how we can best assist you in a property tax appeal for your industrial or commercial property. If you have any additional questions, please contact the author of this alert, Carl Rashid (crashid@dykema.com) or your Dykema relationship attorney.