Austin Tea PartyTHE ROYAL ESTIMATE
The county's number, and where it comes from.
Every April, the appraisal district mails a legal estimate. It stands unless somebody protests it.
Mass appraisal is the system Texas appraisal districts use to value whole neighborhoods at once. It starts with county records, imagery, square footage, comparable sales, and a model that turns those inputs into one number for your home.
That number is a legal estimate. It is not a visit, and it is not a personal review of your property.
The district mails it April 1 to 15 as the notice of appraised value, the Notice. That is the value your tax bill starts from.
The protest deadline is May 15. If no protest is filed by then, the county's number usually stands for the year.
The district settles most protests informally with the people who protest. That is why the Declaration matters: it names a representative to stand between you and the county's number.
Four in five Texas homes went unprotested last year. Of the protests that were filed, seven in ten were filed by a representative.
Sources: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2024 Appraisal District Operations Survey (Q9.1.1, Q9.3); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, tables B25024 and B25003.