Williamson County Appraisal District’s property tax protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mails the notice of 2020 assessed value.  Williamson County Appraisal District reports they have mailed notices of assessed value. All Williamson County property tax protests are due by May 15th, unless they receive a notice at a later date.

Don’t take a risk; protect your rights and file a property tax protest by May 5 or hire a property tax consultant to represent you.

The protest deadline is the same whether you are protesting or hiring a property tax consultant to protest for you.  The protest is your opportunity to review and correct the computer-generated estimate of value from Williamson County Appraisal District.

News from Williamson County Appraisal District follows:

Appraisal Notices have been mailed and new updates regarding values and the appeal process in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic are available.

The Governor and Comptroller’s office (Property Tax Assistance Division) have been contacted, either directly or through the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts (TAAD), seeking various options that would limit value increases from last year and/or limit human contact during the appeal process.

  • Limiting value increases was deemed property tax relief and as such, would fall on the State Legislature. Therefore, per the Tax Code, property is to be valued as of January 1st
  • The Attorney General has issued an opinion stating that non-physical damage, such as possible economic loss in value due to COVID-19 pandemic, does not qualify for the disaster related temporary tax exemption provided by section 11.35 of the Tax Code (full opinion: CLICK HERE )
  • WCAD is still waiting to hear back about possible ways of limiting contact during formal Appraisal Review Board (ARB) hearings, including allowing appraisal districts to initiate phone hearings, allowing virtual hearings and reducing the numbers of ARB members required per panel

What does this mean for property owners? WCAD has done everything the law will allow to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic, including:

  • Revalued property as conservatively as possible while staying within the acceptable range allowed by the Comptroller
    • Protests based on perceived economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic will not see a reduction in value
  • Cancelled the walk-in protest period during the month of April
  • Postponing scheduled protest hearings until late May or June
  • Improved online protest filing system – you can now upload documentation and/or evidence once your protest has been received and put in our system

You can read the full press release to get more detail on everything that has been done so far by WCAD and TAAD at KNOW MORE

We will be mailing Notices Of Appraised Value on April 14th, 2020. Our office will remain closed to the public as recommended by government and health officials until further notice.

Please consider values are as of January 1, per Tax Code 23.01(a), prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Potential economic effects on values will be analyzed through the collection of sales transactions and other market data from March 24th (when the Williamson County Stay Home Stay Safe Order was issued) until the end of the year. Any market influence will be reflected in the January 1, 2021 appraisal.

Appraisal districts are held to high standards, set by the Texas Comptroller’s office, when it comes to adherence to the Tax Code. Because the Tax Code is set by the State Legislature, appraisal districts do not have the authority to deviate without explicit instruction from state officials.

WCAD will be issuing a press release in the coming days that outlines what we have done, as well as what appraisal districts across the state have done to attempt to make appraisals and the appeal process more responsive to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We will be updating any documentation or procedures we have posted online in the coming days to correspond with changes being made due to the impact of COVID-19. Check back here or visit our support center for updates.

 [End of Williamson County Appraisal District report.]

2020 notices of assessed value are available on Williamson County Appraisal District’s website on April 25, 2020.  Williamson County property owners are strongly encouraged to file a protest NOW or at least prior to the May 15th protest deadline.  However, if Williamson County Appraisal District does not send you a notice, or it gets lost in the mail, you lose your right to appeal unless you have filed a protest by May 15th.  No exceptions; Covid-19 or not.

Property tax protests by May 15th are relevant for all types of Williamson County property: residential, commercial and business personal property.  There are no exceptions to this guidance.

Your best option in Williamson County is to protest each year, for each property, prior to May 15th.  This applies to all types of property.  If the Williamson County Appraisal District does not send a notice of assessed value to you, the deadline is May 15th.  Do not wait to receive a notice of assessed value from Williamson County Appraisal District; you lose your rights to protest if you delay and the appraisal district does not send a notice of assessed value.

FREE Williamson County Appraisal District Hearing Evidence Package: this valuable package has information on your property and includes any information the appraisal district may use at the property tax protest hearing.  YOU MUST FILE A PROPERTY TAX PROTEST TO OBTAIN THE FREE HEARING EVIDENCE PACKAGE.  There are no exceptions.

The Hearing Evidence Package includes information on the size, quality and condition of your property (as recorded by Williamson County Appraisal District), comparable sales and an unequal appraisal analysis.  You can request they main the Hearing Evidence Package to you by first class mail, at their expense.

The Hearing Evidence Package routinely includes information supporting a reduction in your property taxes, and it is FREE.  That is correct; the invaluable Hearing Evidence Package is FREE upon request. However, to receive it you must: 1) timely file a protest and 2) ask the Williamson County Appraisal District to provide it to you.  You can use the appraisal district’s information against them.

Do It Now!

One of the common reasons for not appealing is “I forgot”.  Don’t let that happen to you.  File your protest today.

How to File a Williamson County Appraisal District Protest

File a protest based on: 1) value over market value (41.41 a1), 2) unequal appraisal (41.41 a2) and 3) any other actions of the appraisal district or appraisal review board that apply to and negatively affect the property owner (41.41 a9).  Also include a copy of your request for the FREE Hearing Evidence Package with your request.  At a minimum, protest market value and unequal appraisal and request the free hearing evidence package by May 15th.  About 60 to 70% of property tax protests by owners and property tax consultants are successful.

The protest must be mailed by May 15th to be timely or filed on the appraisal district’s website by May 15th.  Williamson County Appraisal District’s mailing address is:  625 FM1460, Georgetown, TX 78626.

 Why Protest Williamson Property Taxes Annually?

The linked page contains over 20 reasons for Williamson County owners to protest annually, starting with:

It is Your Money.

Appealing property taxes annually is one of the responsibilities of Williamson County property owners.  Property taxes are a large and growing expense.  Like an untended garden, property taxes grow out of control if not reviewed and maintained.  An annual property tax appeal is like lawn care, annual HVAC check, cleaning the gutters or changing the oil in your car.  You can neglect these tasks, but the total cost will be higher if you do.

Williamson County Appraisal District uses computers to generate estimates of market value for hundreds of thousands of properties.  These computer-generated estimates of value are the basis for assessing property taxes in Williamson County for the county, city, school districts and other tax entities.  How accurate can a computer model be when the property data is inconsistent?

See how much tax revenue Williamson County Appraisal District supported.

Additional information on Williamson County Appraisal District.

O’Connor is the nation’s largest property tax consulting firm, representing over 130,000 clients for over 200,000 properties in 2019.  There are no flat fees and no up-front fees.  You do not pay a nickel unless we reduce your property taxes.  O’Connor has been serving property owners since 1974.

O’Connor’s core focus is enriching the lives of property owners through cost effective tax reduction.

P.S.  Do you really want to pay Williamson County property taxes based on a computer generated estimate?

Your property taxes will be aggressively appealed every year by the #1 property tax firm in the country. If your taxes are not reduced you PAY NOTHING, and a portion of the tax savings is the only fee you pay when your taxes are reduced! Many FREE benefits come with enrollment.

     ENROLL NOW
No Cost to Enroll

Share Now