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:: Texas Offer In Compromise
How to Protest and
Methods Used
1999
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Step 4.
Hearings
The agency will notify each protesting party's agent of
the date and time of the hearing after it receives the protest. In past
years, staff rescheduled pre-set hearing dates to accommodate district
preferences. This effort to accommodate has caused serious difficulty in
controlling the flow of protests. Consequently, staff will not
reschedule a hearing. Consolidation of hearing dates for the convenience
of an agent or attorney is not good cause for rescheduling. If an event
occurs that is not within the party's control, such as a medical
emergency, an extension may be granted.
After reviewing your protest, staff mails a
Conference and Hearing Form along with the written recommendation on
your protest. You may request that the hearing be conducted by written
submission by selecting that option on the form. The hearing examiner
will give your written submission the same weight as if you had
presented the evidence personally.
Staff will notify you before the hearing day to set up
an informal resolution conference. These conferences may be conducted
entirely in writing or via telephone conference call. Please contact
PTD's Reporting Section to discuss the conference call option.
Hearings are conducted by hearing examiners who have
been specifically chosen to hear all protests. During a hearing, the
protesting party may present oral argument to support its challenge.
However, the protesting party may not raise an issue or request a remedy
that was not specified in the petition and may not present oral or
written evidence that was not submitted with the petition. Admissions,
proposals, or offers made in the compromise of disputed issues in a
preliminary conference may not be admitted in a hearing.
The hearing examiner's decision is based on the
evidence and arguments of the protesting party and the Comptroller's
staff. The examiner must issue a written decision. This decision is
mailed to each protesting party by certified mail.
Guidelines to Presenting a Protest
If you appear at a protest hearing, you should present your protest by
following these guidelines:
Restrict your comments
You may not introduce evidence you did not already submit by March 13,
and you may not protest new categories, issues, or remedies at the
hearing. Oral evidence, presented by an agent or attorney, must reflect
evidence timely filed with the petition.
Be organized
Unless directed otherwise by the hearing examiner, support your request
by:
- presenting your protest in category order,
- stating the preliminary ratio and value assigned the contested
category,
- stating the value you are requesting for each school district and
- summarizing the evidence you have provided.
Be brief
This will allow time for the hearing examiner to ask questions. You will
be expected to observe the time limit, if any, established for the
hearing, regardless of the number of categories you are protesting.
Stick to the point
Bringing up irrelevant issues, such as state education aid allocations,
will reduce the amount of time you have to discuss your evidence. While
the hearing examiner may be sympathetic, he or she will only consider
adjusting preliminary ratios and values based on relevant evidence.
Texas – Property
Tax Compromise
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