Binding Arbitration
Binding Arbitration is a new avenue of appeal for the 2005 tax year and gives qualifying taxpayers an alternative to litigation in their appeal from the final Appraisal Review Board decision. There are a few very stringent guidelines that must be followed in order to qualify for Binding Arbitration. A summary of these rules for Binding Arbitration is:
- The subject property must be real property. Business Personal Property does not qualify.
- The final appraised or market value as determined by the ARB on the subject property is $1 million or less.
- The only issue on appeal is the Market value; Unequal Protests (Fair and Equal) are not permitted.
- The only issue on appeal is the Market value; Unequal Protests (Fair and Equal) are not permitted.
- The only issue on appeal is the Market value; Unequal Protests (Fair and Equal) are not permitted.
- The request for binding arbitration must be filed within 45 days of the date of receiving the Board Order from the District informing stating the final ARB value.
- All taxes must be paid timely for the tax year in question. These taxes are due no later than January 31. If for any reason the taxes are not paid timely, the arbitration will be dismissed and the application fee minus the Comptroller’s administrative costs of 10% will be returned to the property owner.
- The subject property must not be the subject of litigation for the tax year in question.
- You must choose either Litigation or Arbitration. The property owner must pay an application fee in the amount of $500 for each request for Binding Arbitration. The fee is payable to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and must be made by cashier’s check or money order. The $500 is used to pay the administrative costs of the Comptroller’s office and the Arbitrator's fee.
If the Arbitrator determines the value of the property to be closer to the requested value of the property owner than to the ARB’s final value, the property owner will be refunded the application fee minus the Comptroller’s administrative costs of 10% ($50) for a refund of $450.
We are excited about this new lower cost avenue of appeal and encourage you to allow us the opportunity to take this next step in determining your property’s valuation. If you are interested in this new process, please contact us. You will need to provide your Social Security Number and $500 cashier’s check or money order payable to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts along with the signed letter of authorization (which we will provide).
