PATRICK'S QUICK ANSWER
Plan for property taxes with one simple annual routine: review your Notice of Appraised Value every spring, decide whether to protest by mid-May, then budget for the October bill so it is paid by January 31. Three deciding factors: catching errors and exemption gaps in the notice, filing your protest on time, and picking a payment method that fits your cash flow. Fifteen minutes each spring routinely saves my clients hundreds. Build the habit once and it pays every year. Ask Patrick to check your home's value.
Planning for property taxes each year starts in late spring when you receive your Notice of Appraised Value. Review the value, decide whether to protest, and set aside funds for the upcoming tax bill. A simple annual routine of review, protest, and budget can save you thousands over the years. Mark your calendar for May and build a system that works for your household.
Spring review: the May notice
Your property tax year starts with the Notice of Appraised Value, which arrives in April and May. Review the value against what similar homes are doing, confirm your exemptions are on file, and decide whether the number is worth protesting.
What it means in dollars: a 15-minute review every spring is one of the highest-return activities a homeowner can do. I have seen people save $1,000 or more just by reviewing their notice and filing a protest.
The real-world move: the moment the notice lands, calendar the filing deadline and check your exemptions. That single habit keeps the whole year on track.
Summer: protest season
If you file a protest, summer is when it plays out. The filing deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later. Informal hearings run June through July, where most cases resolve, and formal Appraisal Review Board hearings run July through August.
What it means in dollars: a successful protest typically reduces your assessed value by 5 to 15 percent, which carries forward and keeps saving you money in later years.
The real-world play: gather your comparable sales and photos when you file, not the week of the hearing. Prepared homeowners win at the informal stage, and winners save every year after.
Fall: budget and pay
Tax bills arrive in the fall, and how you pay depends on escrow. If your lender escrows, the payment is already built into your monthly mortgage. If you pay directly, set aside the funds before the bill arrives so the due date is never a scramble.
What it means in dollars: property taxes are a predictable annual expense, so they belong in the budget like insurance, not treated as a surprise. A monthly set-aside makes the fall bill painless.
The real-world consequence: if your bill jumped and you did not protest, this is the moment it shows. Use the fall bill as the reminder to file next spring, and the cycle gets cheaper every year.
The annual routine that compounds
Review in May, protest by the deadline, budget in the fall, repeat. That is the whole system, and it compounds. The homestead cap holds school tax value increases to 10 percent a year, but the protest is what keeps the value honest in the first place.
Add in the homestead exemption check and you have a complete annual tax routine that pays for itself many times over. Make it a great one: put the dates on the calendar once, and let the routine run itself every year.
Ask Patrick about your home's value and options
Get a straight answer on what your home is worth and whether a refinance makes sense.
