Austin – Today Senator Paul Bettencourt passed a bill allowing more business owners to go to arbitrationto appeal the ruling of an Appraisal Review Board (ARB). Under current law, only residence homesteads and non-homestead properties worth $1 million or less can appeal the ruling of an ARB by going to arbitration instead of going to court. This bill is designed to encourage more arbitration and less litigation. SB 849 raises the value of eligible property from $1 million to $3 million.

"This is a win-win for the taxpayers and government alike by saving both their time and money appealing property values to an arbitration instead of district court. More small business owners will have the same option homeowners already, to use low cost arbitration to contest property value rulings instead of high cost litigation," said Senator Bettencourt.

This bill has the support of appraisal districts and taxpayers alike. In Harris County alone, there are 4,200 pending property tax lawsuits - and if SB 849 was already in place 1,700 of those suits would have had the option of going to arbitration. HB 3867 by Rep. Gary Elkins is the House companion.

"Since up to 25% of a civil court's docket can be property tax value cases, arbitration offers a much faster resolution to resolving taxpayer property value appeals," added Senator Bettencourt.

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