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What are your options if the appraisal district or Galveston County Appraisal Review Board do not follow the law?: 01-Jan-06 By : Patrick O'Connor There are limited options depending on the issue. Appraisal districts and appraisal review boards are not penalized for violating the law. If they violate the law they sometimes gain a tactical advantage at a hearing. There is no penalty for the violation. Further, there is no reward for lawful behavior. For issues related to the appraisal review board hearing, you can contact the chairman of the board of the appraisal review board. It is sometimes possible to find the appraisal review board chairman during the day at the appraisal district. An in person discussion has the highest probability of success. Other options are contact by phone or mail. This is sometimes successful. Based upon discussions with taxpayers, only perhaps 5-10% of such appeals are successful. At times, it seems the suggestion to contact the ARB chairman is a means to delay saying no.
If it is not, you can ask the chief appraiser to join you in a 25.25H motion to revise the value. Such a motion must be approved by the appraisal review board by the tax delinquency date (typically January 31st of the subsequent year).
You could contact the local media. Depending on your media contacts, persistence and the appeal of your story, this would work.
You can file a judicial appeal of the appraisal review board decision. Unfortunately, this is not financially feasible for most properties.
You can file a lawsuit in state district court based upon section 41.45f of the Texas property Tax Code (TPTC). This section of the TPTC addresses not receiving a fearing to which you are entitled. This is also not financially feasible for most properties.
In practice, there are few practical options for a homeowner to resolve unlawful behavior at the appraisal review board. This is perhaps the Achilles Heel of a reasonable property tax code.
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