Property Tax Notice Translator
Translates the assessment notice a homeowner receives every year - a Notice of Appraised Value in Texas, a TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice in Florida, a Notice of Value in Arizona, a Notice of Property Value in New York City, or the equivalent assessment notice in any other state - into plain English. The homeowner either pastes the full text of the notice or enters the key figures from it (assessed value, market value, exemptions, the protest/appeal deadline date, and the parcel or account number). The tool explains what each number means, whether the value went up and by how much, what the deadline is and what action it triggers, which exemptions are already applied versus which the homeowner may be missing, and the exact path to challenge the value if they disagree - all in language a non-expert can act on. It is explicitly informational: it reads back what the notice already says and points to the official deadline and challenge route, rather than estimating a new value.
Example
Input: State: Texas (Harris County). Notice text: "Harris Central Appraisal District - 2026 Notice of Appraised Value - Account No. 1234567 - Total appraised value: $720,000 (2025 value: $640,000) - Homestead exemption applied - 10% homestead cap value: $704,000 - You have the right to protest. Deadline to file: May 15, 2026, or 30 days after this notice was mailed, whichever is later."
Output: Here's your Harris County notice in plain English. What this is: This is your 2026 Notice of Appraised Value from the Harris Central Appraisal District. It is NOT a tax bill - it is the appraisal district telling you the value it intends to use to calculate your taxes. In Texas this notice is required to spell out how and when you can protest (Tex. Tax Code Sec. 25.19). What your numbers mean: Your appraised (market) value for 2026 is $720,000 - the district's opinion of what your home would sell for as of January 1. That is up $80,000, about 12.5%, from last year's $640,000. Your "capped" value is $704,000: because you have a homestead exemption, the taxable portion can rise by no more than 10% per year, so taxes are figured on $704,000 this year, not the full $720,000. The homestead cap does not stop you from protesting the $720,000 itself. Your deadline: You must file a protest by May 15, 2026, OR within 30 days of the date this notice was mailed, whichever is later. Miss it and you generally lose the right to challenge your 2026 value. Your exemptions: You already have the residence homestead exemption (that's what produced the 10% cap). If you are 65 or older, disabled, or a veteran, confirm those additional exemptions are also on your account - each one lowers your taxable value further. What to do next: File the Notice of Protest (Form 50-132) with HCAD, on paper or through the district's online iFile system. Most homeowners are first offered an informal conference with an appraiser; if that doesn't resolve it, your protest is heard by the Appraisal Review Board. Because your value jumped 12.5% in one year, gathering a few recent sales of comparable homes is a reasonable next step before the deadline.
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