Montgomery County, Texas Property Tax Protest Guide for 2027

What deadline matters first

For the 2027 tax year, Montgomery County’s regular county-wide protest deadline is Monday, May 17, 2027. Texas normally uses May 15 or 30 days after the notice of appraised value is delivered or mailed, whichever is later. Because May 15, 2027 falls on a Saturday, this draft treats the next business day, May 17, 2027, as the regular deadline. The Texas Comptroller explains the same May 15 or 30-day protest rule for appraisal notices on its property-tax protest page: Texas Comptroller, Appraisal Protests and Appeals.

Do not ignore the date printed on your own notice. If the Montgomery Central Appraisal District mails or delivers your notice later, your individual deadline may be later than May 17, 2027.

For planning, Montgomery County’s 2027 appraisal target date is January 1, 2027. That means the question is usually what your property was worth as of that date, not what it is worth months later.

The supplied 2027 policy model uses an estimated effective tax rate of 1.65%. That is useful for rough planning because a lower taxable value can matter, but the actual tax bill also depends on exemptions, tax ceilings, and the rates adopted by your school district, city, MUD, and other taxing units.

A private protest firm reported a 2024 Montgomery County protest volume of 97,670 protested accounts and said 76% of ARB protests received a reduction. Treat that as a cited sample success and volume metric, not a promise about your result: O’Connor, Montgomery Central Appraisal District hearing results.

The common value appeal

The most common homeowner protest reason is Incorrect appraised (market) value. Use this when the appraisal district’s proposed value appears higher than your property’s market value as of January 1, 2027.

In plain English, you are saying: “Comparable homes, a recent purchase, a fee appraisal, income evidence, or condition evidence shows my home would not have sold for the district’s value on January 1.”

For Montgomery County, protests are filed with the Montgomery Central Appraisal District and decided, if not resolved earlier, by the Montgomery County Appraisal Review Board. The Texas Comptroller describes an appraisal review board as the local body that hears taxpayer protests and makes determinations after considering the owner’s and appraisal district’s evidence: Texas Comptroller, Appraisal Review Boards.

You do not have to sound like a lawyer. A calm packet with the notice, your requested value, comparable sales, photos, and a short explanation is usually easier to follow than a long argument.

Other reasons you might appeal

Montgomery County’s official protest reasons also include issues that are not just “my value is too high.” Preserve the exact official label when it matches your situation.

• Value is unequal compared with other properties: use this when similar properties in the same appraisal district are appraised lower after reasonable adjustments. This can matter even if the district argues that your market value is supportable.
• Property should not be taxed in a taxing unit / should not be included on the appraisal district's record: use this if the record includes property that should not be listed by that appraisal district or taxed by a particular taxing unit.
• Exemption was denied, modified or cancelled: use this if the chief appraiser denied, changed, or removed an exemption, such as a homestead-related exemption.
• Ag-use, open-space or other special appraisal was denied, modified or cancelled: use this for agricultural, open-space, timber, wildlife, or other special appraisal qualification disputes.
• Change in use of land appraised as ag-use, open-space or timberland: use this when the district says land under special appraisal had a change in use, which can affect rollback or change-in-use treatment.
• Failure to send required notice: use this when a required notice was not sent or was defective.
• Owner's name, property description, damage rating, or appraisal record error is incorrect: use this for factual record errors, such as the wrong owner name, wrong property description, or wrong temporary disaster damage rating.
• Other action that adversely affects the property owner: use this when another appraisal-district action applies to you and hurts you, but none of the more specific labels fits.

If more than one official reason applies, it is often safer to preserve each applicable reason when filing. TaxSauce can help organize the issues, but you choose what to file.

If your Notice of Assessment says something else changed

Your Notice of Assessment, called a Notice of Appraised Value in Texas, is the paper or online notice that tells you the appraisal district’s proposed value and other important appraisal-record changes.

Read it slowly. Look for changes in market value, appraised value, exemptions, land classification, improvement details, ownership, property description, taxing units, and any special appraisal action.

If the notice shows a new improvement, added square footage, changed condition, missing exemption, or denied special appraisal, do not treat the case as only a comparable-sales dispute. Match the facts to the official protest labels above.

Also save the envelope, mailing date, online notice date, and any screenshots from the appraisal district portal. Those details may matter if your deadline depends on the 30-day notice rule.

What evidence helps

For Incorrect appraised (market) value, the best starting point is usually recent, similar, arm’s-length sales. For the 2027 Montgomery County model, use closed sales from January 1, 2024 through January 1, 2027.

Prefer sales in the same neighborhood, subdivision, school or taxing-area context, or a truly competitive nearby market area. A sale across the county may be less persuasive if closer and more similar homes exist.

Good comparable sales are similar in location, lot size, building size, age, condition, access, amenities, views, and legal burdens such as easements or deed restrictions. If a sale is not exactly like your home, explain the difference and adjust for it instead of pretending it is identical.

Texas does not set a fixed Montgomery County radius or a fixed maximum number of sales for ARB evidence. As a conservative working default, TaxSauce starts near the property, prefers same-neighborhood or same-subdivision sales, and may use up to 10 candidate sales within about 5 miles when needed.

Do not rely only on listing prices or online estimates. Closed sale prices, purchase documents, photographs, repair estimates, independent appraisals, appraisal district property cards, and maps are usually easier for a reviewer to understand.

For Value is unequal compared with other properties, compare your appraised value with similar properties after adjustments. The point is not just that a neighbor pays less. The point is that comparable properties are assessed lower after accounting for real differences.

What the board can and cannot decide

The Montgomery County Appraisal Review Board is the local protest body for disputes with the appraisal district. The Texas Comptroller explains that ARB members hear taxpayer protests, consider evidence from the property owner and appraisal district, and make determinations for the issues heard: Texas Comptroller, Appraisal Review Boards.

The board can decide the protest issues that are properly before it for that tax year. That may include value, unequal appraisal, exemption denial, special appraisal denial, certain record errors, required notice issues, or another adverse appraisal-district action.

The board is not the tax assessor-collector. It does not set tax rates, decide whether a tax bill feels affordable, or rewrite your mortgage escrow. Keep your presentation focused on the official protest reason and the evidence that proves it.

ARB decisions are binding only for the tax year in question, according to the Comptroller’s ARB explanation. If you disagree with the ARB’s findings, the Comptroller’s protest page describes further review options that may include district court, the State Office of Administrative Hearings, or regular binding arbitration depending on the property and facts: Texas Comptroller, Appraisal Protests and Appeals.

How TaxSauce helps

TaxSauce helps you turn a stressful notice into a more organized review. We can estimate the tax impact, identify possible official protest reasons, collect comparable-sale candidates, flag property-record issues, and prepare a clear packet for you to review.

For a Montgomery County 2027 value protest, TaxSauce focuses evidence on the January 1, 2027 valuation date and the January 1, 2024 through January 1, 2027 comparable-sale window. We prefer closer and more similar homes first, then broaden only when needed.

You stay in control. You review the facts, decide which official reasons to preserve, approve the materials, and choose whether to file, download, or share the packet with a representative.

TaxSauce does not promise a reduction or guarantee that the appraisal district or Appraisal Review Board will accept every sale or adjustment. The goal is to help you present a careful, readable, evidence-based protest before the right deadline.