Property owners who have experienced physical damage to their property during the recent storms that swept through Harris County are being asked to apply for a temporary disaster exemption. Owners must file their application no later than Sept. 3 to qualify, according to a news release from the Harris Central Appraisal District.
"The recent severe windstorms and flooding earlier this month have caused physical damage to many properties in the area, and I want to remind everyone of the disaster exemption that is available to help those owners reduce their 2024 property taxes," HCAD Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger said in a news release.
Altinger explained some different damages that are eligible for home and business owners to qualify under the Texas Tax Code.
"While damage to a house or other structure from a falling tree is eligible for exemption under this particular law, damage that occurred only to trees or shrubbery caused by the disaster isn't eligible," Altinger said.
Explained
Texas Tax Code allows a qualified property that is at least 15% damaged by a disaster in a governor-declared disaster area to receive a temporary exemption of a portion of the appraised value of the property.
Severe weather has affected the Greater Houston area since April 26. President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for the state of Texas, according to a May 17 news release.
Gov. Greg Abbott said 91 Texas counties were affected by the first threshold of storms, which moved across Southeast Texas May 2-4, and those counties are part of the statewide disaster declaration issued on May 3. The storms resulted in over 500 water rescues by local agencies and another 124 water rescues by state agencies, Abbott said.
Get involved
Disaster application forms can be found on the HCAD website here. Officials with the appraisal district said the form must be mailed to the following address:
Harris Central Appraisal District
Information and Assistance Division
P.O. Box 922012
Houston, Texas 77292-2012
Jessica Shorten and Lizzy Spangler contributed to this report.
