Sec. 41.415. ELECTRONIC FILING OF NOTICE OF PROTEST

(a) This section applies only to an appraisal district established for a county having a population of 500,000 or more.

(b) The appraisal district shall implement a system that allows the owner of a property that for the current tax year has been granted a residence homestead exemption under Section 11.13, in connection with the property, to electronically:

(1) file a notice of protest under Section 41.41(a)(1) or (2) with the appraisal review board;

(2) receive and review comparable sales data and other evidence that the chief appraiser intends to use at the protest hearing before the board;

(3) receive, as applicable:

(A) a settlement offer from the district to correct the appraisal records by changing the market value and, if applicable, the appraised value of the property to the value as redetermined by the district; or

(B) a notice from the district that a settlement offer will not be made; and

(4) accept or reject a settlement offer received from the appraisal district under Subdivision (3)(A).

(c) With each notice sent under Section 25.19 to an eligible property owner, the chief appraiser shall include information about the system required by this section, including instructions for accessing and using the system.

(d) A notice of protest filed electronically under this section must include, at a minimum:

(1) a statement as to whether the protest is brought under Section 41.41(a)(1) or under Section 41.41(a)(2);

(2) a statement of the property owner's good faith estimate of the value of the property; and

(3) an electronic mail address that the district may use to communicate electronically with the property owner in connection with the protest.

(e) If the property owner accepts a settlement offer made by the appraisal district, the chief appraiser shall enter the settlement in the appraisal records as an agreement made under Section 1.111(e).

(f) If the property owner rejects a settlement offer, the appraisal review board shall hear and determine the property owner's protest in the manner otherwise provided by this subchapter and Subchapter D.

(g) An appraisal district is not required to make the system required by this section available to an owner of a residence homestead located in an area in which the chief appraiser determines that the factors affecting the market value of real property are unusually complex or to an owner who has designated an agent to represent the owner in a protest as provided by Section 1.111.

(h) An electronic mail address provided by a property owner to an appraisal district under Subsection (d)(3) is confidential and may not be disclosed by the district.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1267 , Sec. 3, eff. January 1, 2010.