Personal Property

Appealing the Appraised Value of Personal Property

If you wish to appeal the appraised value of your personal property, contact the appraiser's office within 15 days of receiving the valuation notice which is typically mailed around May 1. If the property owner is going to be represented by someone at the information meeting, the property owner must complete and file a Declaration of Representative form with the appraiser's office prior to the date of the meeting.

Protesting Your Appraised Value

If you do not appeal the valuation notice, you can still protest the appraised value of your property when you pay all or one half of your taxes. By law, you cannot appeal both your valuation notice and then protest when you pay your taxes for the same property in the same year.

Payment Under Protest

Payment under protest forms are available at the treasurer's office. The protest should state the grounds for the protest, including the portion of the assessment protested and any portion admitted to be valid. Once the taxes are paid under protest, the county treasurer will make a copy of the form and sends it to the county appraiser. Any supporting documentation can be filed with the protest form at the treasurer's office and it will be forwarded to the appraiser with the protest form.

Within 15 days of receiving the notice the appraiser will contact the property owner to make an appointment for an information hearing or conduct the hearing over the phone. It is important to remember that at the informal hearing the appraiser is only looking at the value of the property and not at the amount of taxes.

Preparing For An Informal Hearing

At any informal hearing the taxpayer will have the opportunity to present documentation to the appraiser supporting the value the property owner considers correct. Types of documentation that can help support a property owner's estimate of value are documents showing any damage of problems that might not have been noticed by the appraiser. Business machinery and equipment are not valued based upon market value. Any appeal on this type of property is based upon items such as cost, date of purchase, and if new or used at time of purchase.

Appealing An Informal Decision

Anyone wishing to appeal an informal decision from the county appraiser can file an appeal with the Board Of Tax Appeals   (BOTA). Where within BOTA the appeal is set based upon the value and class of property. This is only if you appeal an informal decision from the county appraiser. The Small Claims and BOTA may be in Shawnee County or by phone with BOTA.