Protesting Your BCAD Appraisal: Informal Review vs Formal ARB Hearing

If you got a Notice of Appraised Value from the Bexar Appraisal District in April and the number looks too high, you have two real shots at lowering it: an informal review with a BCAD appraiser, and a formal hearing in front of the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). They are not the same proceeding, they don't use the same evidence standard, and the order you take them in matters.

File the protest by May 15 (or 30 days after the notice was mailed, whichever is later) on Form 50-132, or online through BCAD's eFile portal at bcad.org. Check both market value and equal and uniform as your grounds — you want the option to argue either, and checking one box doesn't waive the other.

What the informal review actually is

The informal is a one-on-one meeting — now usually by phone, video, or through the eFile portal's settlement offer system — with a single BCAD appraiser who has authority to adjust your value on the spot. No board, no oath, no hearing officer. You show your evidence, they show theirs, and if you both agree on a number, you sign a settlement and you're done for the year.

This is where roughly most protests resolve, and for a reason: the appraiser's job is to clear cases before the ARB calendar fills up. If your evidence is clean and your ask is reasonable, they will often meet you partway without making you burn a day at the hearing.

What moves an appraiser at the informal

• Recent closed comps from within about a mile, similar square footage, similar age, that sold below your appraised value in the relevant time window (sales from the prior calendar year drive the January 1 valuation).
• Condition evidence — dated photos of foundation cracks, roof damage, deferred maintenance, outdated kitchens and baths, active plumbing issues. A contractor's written bid to fix a real problem is stronger than a photo alone.
• A closing disclosure if you bought the house in the last 12–18 months for less than BCAD's value. This is close to dispositive at the informal.
• Equal and uniform data — a list of 5–10 comparable properties in your neighborhood with lower per-square-foot appraised values, pulled straight from BCAD's public property search.

What does not move them

• Your tax bill going up. The appraiser sets value, not rate; the rate is set by the taxing units (City of San Antonio, Bexar County, your ISD, your MUD, etc.). Complaining about the bill at a value hearing is a wasted opening.
• Zillow or Redfin estimates. BCAD appraisers will not weigh third-party automated values. Bring MLS comps, a SABOR-member agent's CMA, or a fee appraisal.
• "My neighbor's house is bigger and pays less." Maybe — but unless you document it as part of a uniform and equal argument with multiple comps, it reads as anecdote.

When to skip the settlement and push to ARB

Take the informal offer if it's within a few percent of your target and the math on your tax savings doesn't justify another half-day of work. Reject it and go to the formal hearing if:

• The gap between BCAD's number and your evidence is more than roughly 8–10%.
• You have an independent fee appraisal close to the January 1 effective date.
• You're arguing equal and uniform and the appraiser won't engage with your median analysis.
• Your property has a material condition problem the appraiser is discounting (the ARB tends to weight condition evidence more heavily than a single appraiser will at the informal).

Rejecting the informal offer doesn't penalize you. Your formal hearing date stays on the calendar, and you can still settle up to and including the morning of the hearing.

The formal ARB hearing

The ARB is a panel of three citizens appointed by the local administrative district judge. They are not BCAD employees. Hearings run May through July at BCAD's offices at 411 N. Frio, with some conducted by phone or video. You get a hearing notice at least 15 days out and you are entitled to request BCAD's evidence package (the "14c packet") at least 14 days before the hearing — request it. Always request it. It tells you exactly which comps BCAD plans to use.

How the hearing actually runs

• Everyone is sworn in.
• The BCAD appraiser presents first: their comps, their adjustments, their proposed value.
• You present: your comps, your condition evidence, your equal-and-uniform analysis, your requested value.
• The panel asks questions of both sides.
• BCAD rebuts, you rebut, both sides make a closing statement.
• The panel deliberates on the spot and announces a value. You get a written order in the mail within about 30 days.

Budget 20–40 minutes. Show up 15 minutes early; late arrivals get rescheduled or dismissed, and a dismissal means BCAD's value stands.

Evidence that wins at the ARB

Evidence	Weight
Fee appraisal dated near Jan 1	Very high
Recent arm's-length purchase (your own closing)	Very high
3–5 closed MLS comps with adjustments	High
Contractor bids for documented defects	High
Equal-and-uniform median analysis, 5+ comps	High
Photos of condition issues	Medium
Insurance claim records (roof, foundation)	Medium
Anecdotes about the neighborhood	Low

What most people get wrong

• Protesting only market value when equal and uniform would win. In built-out Bexar neighborhoods — Alamo Heights (78209), parts of Stone Oak (78258), Terrell Hills, Olmos Park — sales comps can actually support BCAD's number, but per-square-foot appraised values are all over the map. Equal and uniform (Tax Code § 41.43(b)(3)) wins those cases. Check both boxes on Form 50-132.
• Assuming the 10% homestead cap means no protest is needed. The cap under § 23.23 limits taxable value growth to 10% per year on a homesteaded property, but the market value on your notice can still climb unbounded. When the market softens or you sell, that uncapped number becomes the new baseline. Protest the market value even when your taxable value is capped.
• Showing up without requesting the 14c packet. You are legally entitled to BCAD's evidence in advance. Walking in blind means you're reacting to comps you've never seen while the clock runs.
• Bringing an active listing instead of a closed sale. List prices are aspirations. ARB panels discount them heavily. Pull closed sales with actual sale prices from SABOR MLS through an agent, or use the sold data BCAD itself publishes.
• Confusing the protest deadline with the exemption deadline. Homestead exemption filing (Form 50-114) is due April 30. Protest filing (Form 50-132) is due May 15 or 30 days after the notice. Two different forms, two different deadlines, two different problems.
• Ignoring the MUD line on the tax bill. If you're in a MUD — common in newer far-north and far-northeast subdivisions like parts of Cibolo, Schertz, and along the 1604/281 growth corridor — the MUD rate can add $0.50–$1.00+ per $100 of value on top of city/county/ISD. That's a real reason to fight value aggressively; every dollar of value reduction hits harder.

After the ARB

If the ARB order is still wrong, Tax Code § 41A gives you binding arbitration for properties valued at $5 million or less — a flat deposit to the Comptroller, a neutral arbitrator, a binding decision. Above that threshold, or as an alternative, you can file suit in Bexar County district court within 60 days under § 42.01. Both routes are real, but both require you to have exhausted the ARB first.

For most owner-occupied homes, the sequence that actually works is: file the protest, request the 14c packet, take a reasonable informal offer, and push to the ARB only when the evidence gap is big enough to justify it. Talk to a licensed Texas property tax consultant or a real estate attorney if your value is unusual — new construction, mixed-use, or a teardown lot — where the standard playbook doesn't fit.

If you're weighing whether the protest is worth it because you're thinking about selling, a local agent can pull the same comp data the ARB will see and tell you what the house would actually close at today. Browse San Antonio listings at /rentals, or find an agent who works your ZIP at /agents. More Bexar County tax walkthroughs live at /resources.