By Jennifer Vickers, Timbergram Editor

If you listen hard enough each Spring, you’ll hear the groans of homeowner residents throughout Timbergrove Manor as we each pull the annual tax district reappraisal notice from our respective mailboxes.

Property tax time is never fun and for many, the the Harris Count Appraisal District appeals process — in which homeowners can protest the appraised value of their home in hopes of decreasing tax liability — can be intimidating.

But should you protest your valuation? This year? Every year? How do you know what exemptions you are eligible for and when and how to file for them? Should I file my own protest or retain a consultant to do it for me?

Further complicating the typical grouping of questions, is the impact of Hurricane Harvey on some homeowners. Can you include any damages as part of evidence in 2018 property tax hearings? Do insurance estimates have any bearing on my flooded property’s value?

Join us at the next general meeting of the TMCC on Tuesday, March 13 to have your questions answered by Paul Bettencourt, CEO of Bettencourt Tax Advisors, LLC.

Bettencourt Tax Advisors, LLC was formed in 2009 to bring Paul's knowledge of property taxes and his years of both public and business experience to the private sector. Mr. Bettencourt spent ten years leading the Harris County Tax Office as the elected Tax Assessor-Collector in the nation's third largest county. As the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul managed nearly 500 employees who provided property tax services to millions of local residents in Harris County, and who collected 5 billion dollars a year for 65 local taxing jurisdictions, the county and the State of Texas.

Paul Bettencourt received the "Taxpayer Advocate of the Year" award from the Americans For Prosperity and many other recognitions of his statewide effort to reduce property tax increases for all Texas taxpayers. Through Paul's leadership at the Tax Office, his team developed a Customer Service driven organization which started with an extensive website that included online tax bills, and then the first Online Automotive Registration and Property Tax Payment System in Texas. The Harris County Tax Office became the first County Tax Office in Texas to bring automation in all areas of Tax Office operations.

Mr. Bettencourt will make a presentation on property taxes and the protest process at the meeting and then take questions from the audience.

Can’t join us in person? Be sure to follow TMCC at facebook.com/TimbergroveManorCivicClub to catch the live stream of the meeting or review the video.