To protest property taxes in Bexar County, file a Notice of Protest with the Bexar County Appraisal District (BCAD) by May 15 or within 30 days of the date your appraisal notice was mailed, whichever is later, then present evidence at an informal conference with a district appraiser and, if needed, at a formal hearing before the Appraisal Review Board.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 41.44 – Notice of Protest The process is free, the board cannot raise your value above what the district originally set, and most protests get resolved before they ever reach a formal hearing.
Grounds You Can Protest On
Texas law gives you several reasons to challenge an appraisal, and the two you’ll see most often on protest forms are over-market-value and unequal appraisal.2State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 41.41 – Right of Protest
- Over-market-value means the district’s appraised value is higher than what your property would actually sell for.
- Unequal appraisal means your property is taxed at a higher percentage of value than comparable properties nearby. Even if the district’s market value is defensible, you can still win a reduction if similar homes are assessed proportionally lower.
- Exemption denial is a separate ground if BCAD refused your homestead, disability, veterans, or other exemption.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Appraisal Protests and Appeals
- Errors in the appraisal records (wrong owner, wrong square footage, wrong lot size) are also valid grounds.
Check both market-value and unequal-appraisal boxes if either could apply. If you check only one and later want to argue the other at the hearing, you may be limited to the ground you originally selected.
The Filing Deadline
The deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the appraisal district mails your notice of appraised value, whichever is later.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 41.44 – Notice of Protest When May 15 falls on a weekend, the deadline shifts to the following Monday. A protest sent by mail must be postmarked by the deadline.
If your notice arrives late, the 30-day window still protects you even after May 15 has passed.
How to File
The protest form is Texas Comptroller Form 50-132, “Notice of Protest,” used in counties with populations over 120,000.4Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Owners Notice of Protest Pull your property account number and contact information from your appraisal notice, fill in the form, and check the boxes for every ground you want to raise.
BCAD’s online portal is the fastest route. Log in with the owner ID and PIN printed on your appraisal notice, select your property, and submit the protest through the system.5Bexar Central Appraisal District. Online Services Portal The portal generates a confirmation that proves you filed on time.
If you’d rather use paper, you can deliver the completed form in person to 411 N. Frio Street in San Antonio or mail it to PO Box 830248, San Antonio, TX 78283-0248.6Bexar Central Appraisal District. How to File a Property Tax Protest Online Keep your receipt or certified-mail tracking number.
Hiring an Agent
You can designate a property tax consultant or attorney to handle the protest by filing Comptroller Form 50-162, which must be signed by the property owner.7Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Appointment of Agent for Property Tax Matters Only one agent is allowed per property at a time; naming a new one revokes the old. Once an agent is on file, BCAD sends notices to the agent’s address rather than yours, so a missed deadline on the agent’s end lands on you.
Most consultants in the area work on contingency, typically taking a share of the first year’s tax savings. If no reduction, no fee.
Evidence That Actually Moves the Number
Winning comes down to documentation that ties a specific dollar figure to your property. Saying your taxes feel too high accomplishes nothing at a hearing.
For an over-market-value protest, comparable sales are the backbone. Pull recent transactions of similar properties near yours that closed below the district’s appraised value, and focus on sales close to January 1, the legal valuation date. Match on size, age, condition, and location. If you bought your home recently, the closing statement carries serious weight, especially if the sale happened within a few months of the assessment date.
Condition matters too. Photographs of deferred maintenance, foundation problems, water damage, or outdated systems help explain why your home should be valued below otherwise comparable houses. Written repair estimates from licensed contractors attach dollar figures to those issues, which gives the appraiser or the board something concrete to work with.
For an unequal-appraisal protest, you need a different data set: the appraised values of similar properties in your area. BCAD’s website lets you pull those records. If your home is appraised at $150 per square foot while three nearly identical houses on the same street sit at $120 per square foot, that gap makes a strong case regardless of what the homes would sell for.
An independent appraisal from a licensed appraiser is the most objective evidence available, though it costs several hundred dollars. For a significantly inflated valuation, it often pays for itself many times over.
Check the Homestead Cap First
If you had a homestead exemption on your primary residence, the appraised value cannot rise more than 10 percent per year, excluding the value of new construction or improvements.8State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 23.23 – Limitation on Appraised Value of Residence Homesteads That cap decides whether a protest is worth your time.
If your home’s market value jumped 25 percent but the district could only raise your appraised value by 10 percent, your taxable value is already well below market. Fighting the market value further may not lower your bill at all, because the cap is already doing that work. If the district raised your appraised value by more than 10 percent while a homestead exemption was in place, the excess is illegal, and the protest process is how you correct it.
Owners who bought in the past year or so often haven’t built up a gap between appraised and market value yet. For them, a market-value or unequal-appraisal protest is the only path to relief.
The Hearing: Informal First, Then the ARB
After you file, BCAD schedules an informal conference by phone or video with a district appraiser. The appraiser reviews your evidence against the district’s data and may offer a reduced value on the spot.9Bexar Central Appraisal District. Informal and Formal Protest Hearing Process Explained Most protests end here. Accept a reasonable offer and you’re done; reject it and you move to a formal hearing with no penalty.
The Appraisal Review Board (ARB) is a panel of citizens independent from the appraisal district, with authority to order changes to the district’s records.10Bexar Central Appraisal District. Property Tax Protest and Appeal Procedures At the hearing, you present your evidence first. The district representative then explains the data and methodology behind the original valuation. Both sides can question the other. The board cannot raise your value above what the district originally appraised it at, so you have nothing to lose by going.11State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 41.47 – Determination of Protest
Can’t attend? Texas law lets you submit your case through a notarized sworn affidavit that identifies the property and includes your supporting evidence. You can also do both: file the affidavit and appear in person.
After deliberating, the board issues a written order setting the final appraised value, delivered by certified mail or electronically if you opted in.11State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 41.47 – Determination of Protest That order sets your official value for the tax year unless you appeal further.
If You Lose at the ARB
You have three options beyond the board.
- District court appeal: file a lawsuit in Bexar County district court. This is the most formal route, usually requires an attorney, and carries filing fees. You must pay the undisputed portion of your taxes before the delinquency date or forfeit the appeal.12State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 42.01 – Right of Appeal by Property Owner
- Binding arbitration: faster and cheaper than court for qualifying properties. Deposits start at $450 for a homestead valued at $500,000 or less, with the comptroller retaining $50 for administrative costs and the rest going to the arbitrator’s fee. The arbitrator’s decision is final.13Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Arbitration Deposit and Arbitrator Fee Schedule
- State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH): available for properties meeting specific eligibility criteria, with an administrative law judge instead of a court judge or private arbitrator.
Keep Paying Taxes While You Protest
A pending protest does not pause your tax bill. Taxes stay due on their normal schedule. For a district court appeal, you must pay taxes on at least the undisputed portion of your taxable value before the delinquency date or lose the right to continue the appeal.14State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 42.08 – Forfeiture of Remedy for Nonpayment of Taxes
The required payment is the lesser of the taxes on the portion of value not in dispute, the taxes owed under the ARB’s order, or the amount of taxes from the prior year. Overpayment doesn’t hurt you; any excess relative to the final outcome gets refunded. If you genuinely cannot afford to pay, you can file a sworn statement of inability to pay and ask the court or board to waive the prepayment requirement, though a waiver is not automatic.14State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 42.08 – Forfeiture of Remedy for Nonpayment of Taxes Win the protest, and the taxing entities recalculate your bill and refund the overpayment.