The Appraisal Review Board (ARB)

What the ARB is

The ARB is a group of local citizens authorized to resolve disputes between property owners and the appraisal district. Members are appointed locally to two-year terms. In counties with a population of 75,000 or more, the appraisal district's board of directors appoints ARB members; in smaller counties, the local administrative district judge does. ARB hearings typically run from May through July, and in larger counties hearings may continue beyond July.

What the ARB decides

After listening to the property owner and the appraisal district representative, the ARB determines the issues heard in the protest — for example, the appraised value or an exemption question. ARB decisions are binding only for the tax year in question. The board must make its determination by written order, and it may not determine the appraised value to be higher than the value submitted by the chief appraiser unless the owner requests and agrees to it.

Hearing procedures

Each ARB adopts hearing procedures based on model procedures the Comptroller prepares; local procedures may add to but not contradict the model. The ARB must hold a public meeting on its proposed procedures before adopting them by May 15, and must post the adopted procedures in hearing rooms and on the appraisal district website. Read your county's adopted procedures before your hearing — they govern evidence submission and hearing conduct. Our ARB hearing guide walks through what to expect.

Special panels in large counties

In very large counties, complex properties — commercial real and personal property, utilities, industrial and manufacturing property, and multifamily residential — with appraised values above an annually adjusted minimum can be heard by special ARB panels whose members must meet professional qualification requirements. The property owner can request a special panel on the protest form.

Independence and limits

State law establishes separation requirements between ARB members and appraisal district staff, and prohibits the Comptroller's office from advising anyone about a matter under protest. The ARB is not part of the appraisal district; it exists to hear disputes with it.

Worked example: what the ARB can and cannot decide (illustrative)

Illustrative scenario — not a prediction of any panel's decision.

1. Scenario: the chief appraiser submitted $520,000. You ask the ARB to find $470,000 based on an adjusted comparable.
2. Within the ARB's power: finding a value anywhere at or below $520,000 — including a number different from both parties' figures — because the board determines the issue heard, not merely choosing between two numbers.
3. Outside the ARB's power (absent your request):raising the value above the $520,000 the chief appraiser submitted — the statute permits it only if the owner requests and agrees.
4. Also outside this year's reach: changing next year's assessment. Whatever the order says, it binds only the tax year heard; next January 1 starts a new appraisal.

What this tells you: the board's decision is bounded in your favor by the submitted value — filing a protest can reduce your value, never increase it, unless you ask for that — and bounded in time by the single tax year.

What it does not tell you: how the panel weighs competing evidence, or what your county's adopted procedures add to the state's model procedures.