Opinion ID: 6109716
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tax Appraisal Protest Scheme

Text: The appraisal records, as changed by order of the ARB and approved by that board, constitute the appraisal roll for the district. TEX. TAX CODE § 25.24. The [L]egislature's intent, as may be determined from the overall tax appraisal protest scheme, is that the appraisal rolls become fixed after property owners have been given adequate time to file their protests. Anderton v. Rockwall Cent. Appraisal Dist. , 26 S.W.3d 539 , 543 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2000, pet. denied). Thus, the Legislature has provided only two direct avenues by which an appraisal roll may be changed. Chapter 41 allows a property owner to file a protest for substantive challenges to property appraisals. See TEX. TAX CODE § 41.44 ; Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 543 . Section 25.25, on the other hand, allows for the correction of errors that do not involve the substantive re-evaluation of a property's market value. 5 See TEX. TAX CODE § 25.25 ; Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 543 . A property owner may also appeal an ARB order resulting from either of those processes. TEX. TAX CODE §§ 25.25(a), 42.01. Chapter 41 gives property owners the right to protest a number of actions before the ARB, including the appraised value of their property, a determination of ownership, or any other action of the chief appraiser, appraisal district, or appraisal review board that applies to and adversely affects the property owner. Id. § 41.41(a). Chapter 41 protests are broad in scope and weigh in favor of the property owner, placing the burden of establishing the value of the property on the appraisal district. Id. §§ 41.41, .43(a). However, such protests are subject to strict time limitations. Id. § 41.44. In most cases, a property owner must file a notice of protest within thirty days of receiving notice of the appraised value-that is, before the final deadline for the appraisal records to be approved by the ARB. Compare id. § 41.44(a)(2) (allowing for protests before June 1 or not later than the 30th day after the property owner received notice under section 25.19, whichever is later) with id. § 41.12(a) (providing that July 20 is the final deadline for the ARB to determine timely filed challenges and approve appraisal records). Upon a showing of good cause, this deadline may be extended to the date the ARB approves the appraisal record. Id. § 41.44(b). Section 25.25, on the other hand, allows corrections after the time to protest has expired and appraisal rolls have been approved. Id. § 25.25 ; see also Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 543 . Such corrections can be made only under limited circumstances, but they are afforded a more generous limitations period. See TEX. TAX CODE § 25.25 ; Bauer-Pileco, Inc. v. Harris Cty. Appraisal Dist. , 443 S.W.3d 304 , 310 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2014, pet. denied). Section 25.25(b) allows the chief appraiser to change the appraisal roll at any time to correct basic factual errors, such as a name or address, a determination of ownership, a description of property, or a clerical error. TEX. TAX CODE § 25.25(b). Section 25.25(c) allows the ARB to make similar changes on a motion of the property owner or the chief appraiser. Id. § 25.25(c). Under section 25.25(c), the ARB may order changes to the appraisal roll for the five preceding years. Id. Section 25.25(d) is the only provision allowing for a substantive re-evaluation of a property's value on the appraisal roll. See id=p41 href=#p41 data-label=41 data-citation-index=1 class=page-label> id. § 25.25. But a motion for such a correction must be made before the taxes become delinquent, and a correction may not be made unless an error resulted in an appraised value that exceeds the correct appraised value by more than one-third. Id. § 25.25(d). If the appraisal roll is changed under section 25.25(d), the property owner must pay a late-correction penalty. Id. Thus, the tax appraisal protest scheme evidences the Legislature's intent to restrict substantive challenges to the appraisal rolls-making them fixed after the period for chapter 41 protests has elapsed, with the exception of allowing limited error-correction. See Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 543 . The limited corrections available under section 25.25(b) and (c)include only objective and ministerial matters such as clerical errors. Id. Such corrections do not include the substantive reevaluation of a property's market value. Id. ; see also MAG-T, L.P. v. Travis Cent. Appraisal Dist. , 161 S.W.3d 617 , 627 (Tex. App.-Austin 2005, pet. denied) (acknowledging that taxing authorities are not permitted under section 25.25 to increase the value at which property had been appraised after the appraisal roll has been certified). In this way, the corrections permitted under section 25.25 stand in contrast to the substantive protests allowed by section 41.41. 6 We agree with courts of appeals' holdings that the purpose of section 25.25 is to permit the correction of objective, factual errors that would cause the payment of taxes based on the uncorrected records to be fundamentally unfair. Kellair Aviation Co. v. Travis Cent. Appraisal Dist. , 99 S.W.3d 704 , 707 (Tex. App.-Austin 2003, pet. denied) ; see also Tomball Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Mustang Mach. Co. Ltd. , 497 S.W.3d 131 , 134 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2016, no pet.) (analyzing section 25.25(c) ); Bauer-Pileco, Inc. , 443 S.W.3d at 310-11 (same); Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 542-43 (same); GE Capital Corp. v. Dallas Cent. Appraisal Dist. , 971 S.W.2d 591 , 593 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1998, no pet.) (same). It should go without saying that an error that results in a non-owner of property having to pay the taxes on that property would be fundamentally unfair. The correction of such an error does not involve a substantive challenge to the appraised value of the property and does not require a reevaluation of the property's market value. Cf. Anderton , 26 S.W.3d at 543 (holding that section 25.25 corrections are limited to objective and ministerial matters that do not include the substantive reevaluation of the property's market value). Thus, WCAD's correction of ownership on the appraisal roll falls squarely within the purview of section 25.25(b). 7