The Harris County Appraisal District is reminding property owners who have experienced physical damage to their property during the recent freezing temperatures to apply for a temporary disaster exemption.
“The recent cold winter weather has 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.” said Roland Altinger, chief appraiser. “A change in state law since Hurricane Harvey now lets the individual owner apply for the temporary disaster exemption for physical damage to their property.”
The Texas Tax Code allows a qualified property that is at least 15 percent 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. Qualified property includes real property such as homes and buildings, certain manufactured homes and tangible personal property used for the production of income for a business.
The property owner must apply for the temporary exemption no later than 105 days after the governor declares a disaster area. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared the state a disaster area on Feb. 12 so the temporary exemption application must be filed no later than May 28.
The disaster application form can be found online at www.hcad.org under FORMS > General Information > Form 50-312, Temporary Exemption for Property Damaged by Disaster. The form should be mailed to the address in the top left of the form, which is Harris County Appraisal District, Information and Assistance Division, P.O. Box 522012, Houston, Texas 77292-2012. For further information, contact the HCAD’s information center at 713.957.7800 or email help@hcad.org .