Harris County property owners who experienced physical damages to their property during the July 8 hurricane are being encouraged to apply for a temporary disaster exemption with the Harris Central Appraisal District.

HCAD Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger said in a news release the applications must be filed no later than Oct. 21 in order to help property owners reduce their 2024 property taxes.

“This has been a very active year for natural disasters so far. We have had flooding and the derecho in May and Hurricane Beryl in July that may have caused physical damage to many properties in the area. State law lets the individual owner apply for the temporary disaster exemption for physical damage to improvements, or structures, on their property and to business personal property used for the production of income,” Altinger said.

The framework

Certain criteria must be met, in order to be eligible for the temporary disaster exemption, Altinger said.

• Damage to a house or other structure from a falling tree is eligible for exemption under state law
• Damage that occurred only to trees or shrubbery caused by the disaster is not eligible

A qualified property needs to be at least 15% damaged by disaster in a governor-declared disaster area. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on July 10 that Harris County and 66 other Texas counties were approved as part of a major disaster declaration.

• Homes
• Buildings
• Certain manufactured homes
• Tangible personal property used for businesses in order to produce income

What residents should know

Property owners can access the form online on the county appraisal district's website. All forms should be mailed to the appraisal district's Information and Assistance Division, according to the news release. The address is:

Harris Central Appraisal District

Information and Assistance Division