As the Commissioners Court representative on the Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD) Board, I thought it would be timely to discuss the process taking place with regards to your property taxes.

The DCAD recently mailed out more than 52,500 Notices of Appraised Value to citizens in eastern Dallas County. Many citizens receiving these notices may find that the proposed value of their property has risen significantly, according to the DCAD. Often, many people do not agree with DCAD and wish to take further steps to resolve the issue.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

Before you contact the DCAD, understanding the process and who you are dealing with may be helpful.

The State Legislature established appraisal districts to eliminate the duplicity of literally thousands of independent tax appraisal offices. For example, in Dallas County prior to 1982, many citizens had to visit three separate offices in order to settle a single property value. Today there is only one office.

Obvious efficiencies in operational cost were implemented, but also significant improvements in the quality of appraisals were mandated by law. Also, a regular schedule of property re-appraisal was established.

If you received a Notice of Appraised Value this year, you were not being singled out for “special treatment.” Instead, pursuant to state law, the DCAD must re-appraise each property at least once each three years.

Should you decide to arbitrate your property value, knowing your rights and understanding how to successfully arbitrate the issue will greatly reduce the difficulties you face in a successful arbitration. Among the most important are:

  1. Pay attention to the deadline date by which any formal protest must be made, as indicated on the notice. This is the absolute date by which you must have made a formal written protest if you are unable to resolve the matter informally.
  1. Review the proposed value, and research three sales of similar property in your neighborhood. Local Realtors are usually very helpful and willing to share sales data. It may be that your home is worth what the DCAD estimates, and you can save some worry by determining this as early as possible.

However, if the DCAD’s proposed value is incorrect, Realtors and other sources of sales information can provide solid information that will assist you in correcting an erroneous estimate.

Remember, the DCAD is proposing a value; the value on the notice is subject to negotiation if you have information about your property of which DCAD may not be aware, such as structural damage, excessive wear and tear, and other non-observable deficiencies.

  1. Call the DCAD to either discuss the matter or to schedule an informal visit with an appraiser. Copies of closing statements, repair estimates and other documents supporting your position are important. Most disputes in property value are resolved in the informal hearings. A professional, business-like approach will serve you better than an aggressive and accusatory approach.
  1. If you are unable to resolve the dispute informally, you have the right to appear before the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The ARB is a body of citizens such as yourself who are not DCAD employees. They are appointed to serve as hearing judges to determine if the proposed value of the DCAD is correct.

In order to make the DCAD more accessible to citizens, the agency has extended its hours of operation. Business hours are 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays. However, during June, DCAD will be open Tuesday evenings until 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.