Taxpayers for Equal Appraisal Access Information!
Taxation must be equal and uniform!

Property taxes must be equal and uniform.
Protesting taxes must be a fair and equitable process.
All property must be valued and taxed equally and uniformly.

Taxpayers for equal appraisal!
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Email us:  coachdanhart@msn.com

HCADTEA.ORG is a non-profit organization established to help you understand how to protest your property taxes, both real property and business property, so that you can save money.  In a perfect world, your property would be taxed fairly and uniformly.  We are here to help you understand how property taxes are set, both in Houston and Harris County, Texas, and, in fact, all over the taxed world. 

WHAT KINDS OF HOMESTEADS EXEMPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN HARRIS  & OTHER COUNTIES? County taxing units have the option to give or not to give various optional exemptions to qualified homeowners in various amounts.  When the Texas Property Tax Code had section 23.23, “ Limitation on appraised value of residence homestead “ added by the 1997 Texas Legislature, the limitation of a 10% amount of some sort was not a taxing unit optional exemption but it was mandatory! The Allison storm damage to homesteads was a major disaster for many Harris County homeowners but if all Harris County Homestead Owners understood the ongoing year to year  “ENRON type” accounting procedures of the Harris County Appraisal District  (HCAD) versus the “CHARITABLE” accounting procedures of other Texas Counties, the ongoing pending disaster for all Harris County Homesteads would be just as life-like as Allison’s rising flood tide was.**** Harris County Homestead Owners who do not get increases in appraised value for 2 or 3 years by HCAD {Yes! it’s true:  some don’t --- believe it or not!}, are the victims of HCAD’s “ENRON” accounting procedures when HCAD opens the flood gates to a 20% or 30% appraised value increase in one year. $$$ To the contrary, for example, the “CHARITABLE “ accounting procedures of Montgomery County Appraisal District {MCAD} are quite different!  Montgomery Homestead Owners can go for 2, 3 or any number of years without an appraisal increase and then the next year get only a 10% increase of just the prior year’s value. All levels of math classes understand the compounding results when computing increases on larger appraisal dollar amounts from year to year.  Taxpayers, likewise,  see very clearly that a mere 10% of the prior year only will drastically reduce the compounding growth of taxable values and tax bills.  Harris County owners of homesteads should ponder and ask questions of their Texas Lawmakers as to how their treatment under the same Texas Property Tax Code can result in a much higher tax bill for them? By the way, the Harris Chief Deputy Appraiser who instructs Harris County appraisers to jump up homesteads by 20% or 30% in one year lives in Montgomery County and enjoys the “CHARITABLE” accounting of MCAD of only 10% increase.  TAXED TWO WAYS:           “ENRON”  VERSUS  “CHARITABLE”            (or...Harris County versus other counties). 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 "Mr. Harris' Enron value" 100,000 100,000 100,000 130,000 130,000 156,000 "Charitable" 100,000 100,000 100,000 110,000 110,000 121,000 Same Tax Code but higher Harris County taxes: 20,000 20,000 35,000

What is the taxpayer's role? You can play an effective role in the process..... if you know your rights, understand the remedies available to you, and fulfill your responsibilities.

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