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• CTN is the only property tax consulting firm in 18 counties and over 6,000 companies to win
the Houston Better Business Bureau Award for Excellence Winner of Distinction in 2006 and 2007!
 2008 PROTEST DEADLINES
For homestead properties, the early protest deadline is April 30th or 30 days after
the date the appraisal district sends a notice of appraised value, whichever is later.
NEWS FLASH
2008 Forecast by Harris County Appraisal District...
More...
On March 25, 2008, during the 2008 Annual Meeting at the Harris County
Appraisal District (HCAD), the county revealed that property
tax values will be increased an average of 25% on approximately 68%
of all commercial accounts! In light of this new information,
it is essential that commercial property owners appeal their property
tax valuations in 2008.
• The Real Property Protest Deadline in Texas is May 31st!
Don’t lose your chance to save money, call or mail us for a free evaluation
on your property value!
• Cost Segregation is one of the most valuable tax-deferral strategies. It allows taxpayers to write off a greater percentage of their commercial improvements over a shorter period of time.
More...
• The deadline for filing business personal property renditions
is April 15, 2008. All business owners must file
or they will face penalties.
More...
The Texas Property Tax Code states that there will be penalties imposed from
10 to 50% of the taxes that are owed and possible lawsuits filed for any
businesses that do not file the required annual rendition by the deadline of
April 15, 2008.
Have you been served a penalty tax statement from the appraisal
district for not filing a Business Personal Property Rendition?
If you have received a penalty statement from the appraisal district, it is
due to the new law in Texas stating that all business personal property accounts
must have renditions filed annually. We may be able to get the penalty waived and
file the 2007 and 2008 renditions for you, just give us a call!
• Property Value Notices will be coming out in the end of April. Your
property may be over assessed, so fill out our free evaluation form and we will
see what we can do for you!
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Office Building Case Study 1
CTN saved Cummings Baccus Interests $143,600 in Taxes for
A Class Office Building in Midland, TX in a Single Year
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CLIENT PROFILE
Cummings Baccus Interests has been a client of CTN since 1998. CTN
became aware of their recently acquired portfolio from one of our Senior
Consultants acquaintances. It was a portfolio of Wells Fargo owned office
buildings throughout Texas. They asked us for help in managing the property
tax function of the entire portfolio. Since then, we have continued
our relationship in minimizing their portfolio with great success.
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PROBLEM
The subject of this case study is a high-rise office building in the
central business district of Midland, TX. It was purchased in April 2001
for $20,500,000. The appraisal district was aware of the purchase and
reflected its sale in the 2001 increase in assessment. The Appraisal
District previously valued the complex during the 2000 tax year at
$11,049,710; they proposed a new 2001 valuation of $18,101,860. This was
a significant increase over the prior year's taxes.
SOLUTION
After analyzing their actual income and expenses, occupancy, market
rents and other comparable assessments, CTN filed an appeal based on the
Uniform and Equal approach to value. The new proposed value for the 2001
tax year showed a 63% increase over the previous year.
The data collected in our original analysis of similar Class A office
buildings in the central business district reflected relatively unchanged
assessments from the prior year. This caused an unequal assessment for
our subject property in conflict with the Texas Property Tax Code.
In the administrative appeal we were moderately successful by securing a
reduction of $1,676,860 to $16,425,000 or a tax savings of $47,200. While
this was a sizeable reduction, it still left the subject assessed
significantly higher than comparable properties.
In review of the formal hearing results, CTN recommended a lawsuit to
be filed against the appraisal office to compel them to correct this
inequity. The property owner agreed with our analysis and requested CTN to
pursue the matter to District Court.
The lawsuit was filed and CTN presented evidence to the appraisal office
in support of our unequal appraisal. By agreed judgment, the value was
reduced to $13,000,000. This was an additional reduction of $3,425,000 or
$96,406 in tax savings.
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| Summary of Value Reductions: |
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Total Preliminary Value: |
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$18,101,860 |
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Administrative Hearing Value: |
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$16,425,000 |
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Litigation Final Value: |
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$13,000,000 |
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Total One Year Reduction: |
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$5,101,860 |
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Total Tax Savings: |
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$143,600 |
This case reflects CTN's commitment to our clients that we will campaign our
clients' interests until we are convinced that they are being treated fairly.
Even though at first glance it appeared that the Preliminary Noticed value of
$18,101,860 was good compared to the sales price of $20,800,000, our in-depth
research uncovered the inequity that ultimately saved them $143,600.
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