1. (a) A petition for a protest of the preliminary findings of taxable value or measures of degree of uniformity or median level of appraisal must be filed within 40 days after the date the comptroller certifies preliminary findings of district taxable value to the commissioner of education.
2. (b) A petition for a protest of the preliminary findings of taxable value of an audit must be filed within 40 days of the date the district received the preliminary findings of taxable value.
3. (c) Except as provided by §9.4309(b)(5) or (f) of this title (relating to Scheduling a Protest Hearing), no additional evidence may be submitted after the deadline for filing a petition under subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

4. (d) All petitions and other documents related to a protest of the comptroller's preliminary findings or appraisal district measures shall be filed with the division manager. No document or petition is filed until actually received. However, any petition including supporting evidence is timely filed if it is sent to the division manager by:

   1. (1) first-class United States mail in a properly addressed and stamped envelope or wrapper, and the envelope or wrapper exhibits a legible postmark affixed by the United States Postal Service showing that the petition including supporting evidence was mailed on or before the last day for filing; or
   2. (2) an express mail corporation in a properly addressed envelope or wrapper, and the envelope or wrapper exhibits a legible date showing that the petition including supporting evidence was delivered to the express mail corporation for delivery on or before the last day for filing; or
   3. (3) fax received on or before the last day for filing if the petition including supporting evidence, is under ten pages in content, the original is mailed within three days of the fax and all procedures for submitting a protest have been followed; or
   4. (4) electronic transmission, if petitioner obtains written permission from the division manager before the petition, evidence or both, are filed, or the division manager has approved the file format and form of transmission before the protest is filed.

5. (e) A petition shall show the petitioner's name and address, designate the petitioner's agent, and list for each category of property the grounds for objection to the preliminary findings for that category. Petitioner shall state the grounds for objection in the manner required by subsection (f) of this section. A petition that does not clearly specify, in the manner provided by subsection (f) of this section, the specific changes that petitioner alleges would improve the accuracy of the taxable finding or appraisal district measures does not adequately specify the grounds for objection as required by Government Code, §403.303(a) and may be rejected by the comptroller or the comptroller's designee without further review. The petition shall include the following information:

   1. (1) the petitioner's grounds for objection, stated with the specificity and in the manner required by subsection (f) of this section;
   2. (2) all documentary evidence, placed in order by category and item number, necessary to support the factual and legal contentions made in the petition; and
   3. (3) the total taxable value petitioner claims is correct.

6. (f) The comptroller has been provided sufficient grounds for objection if the petitioner's protest lists, by property category, each change that the petitioner alleges would improve the accuracy of the taxable value finding or appraisal district measures, and provides the reason that each change will make the findings more accurate. An allegation that an item included the sample for a category of property should be adjusted, deleted from the sample, or treated differently than other items in the sample provides sufficient notice of the grounds for objection if the petitioner: identifies the sample item that petitioner alleges should be adjusted, deleted or treated differently; states for each item a specific reason or reasons why the item should be treated as requested by petitioner, and provides documentation or other evidence that supports the substance of each allegation. Without supporting documentation or other evidence to support the allegation, an allegation that a sample item is flawed and should be adjusted, deleted, or treated differently than the other items in the sample does not provide sufficient notice to the comptroller of the grounds for the petitioner's objection. The following are examples of sufficient grounds for objection:

   1. (1) Sale A should be deleted. It is not an arms-length transaction because the buyer and seller are closely related. Included with the petition is a copy of a deed filed with the county clerk that indicates that the seller is related to the buyer and a statement from the buyer that she is the seller's daughter.
   2. (2) Sale B should be deleted. It is not an arms-length transaction because it was made under duress. The sale is a "1031 exchange," which is a sale of real property in which either the buyers or sellers obtained or attempted to obtain the federal income tax benefit authorized by 26 U.S. C. §1031. The buyer did not start to search for an appropriate property until the month before the deadline for making the exchange. The buyer was under duress because she had to meet the deadline, so she paid more than market value for the property. Included with the petition is the buyer's signed statements that she bought the property when she did to avoid paying capital gains taxes and paid a higher price that she would have if she had not needed to buy the property quickly.
   3. (3) Sale C should be adjusted because it sold with personal property. The sale price for the real property was actually $190,000 because the buyers purchased the seller's commercial kitchen appliances and fitness equipment that included a commercial quality treadmill and recumbent bicycle. The personal property is listed and valued in an attachment to the deed. Included with the petition is the deed and the attachment verifying the personal property included in the sale and its value at the time of sale.
   4. (4) Sale D should be deleted because it is an estate sale and the sellers were forced to sell the property without regard to market value because the estate's debts had to be paid. Attached with the protest is a deed that shows it to be an estate sale and a statement from the seller that the estate's debts forced the seller to sell the property to the first willing buyer less than a month after the owner's death.
7. (g) A district shall deliver a copy of its protest petition to each appraisal district that appraises property for the district. An appraisal district shall deliver a copy of its protest petition to each district that participates in the appraisal district. A property owner shall deliver a copy of its protest petition to each school district and appraisal district in which the property under protest is located. The district's, appraisal district's, and property owner's petition shall contain a certification that a copy of the petition was mailed to each affected party as required by this subsection.
8. (h) The petition must contain a statement by the person signing the petition that, to the best of the person's knowledge, the evidence contained in the petition is true and correct.

Source Note:The provisions of this §9.4307 adopted to be effective January 29, 2009, 34 TexReg 434.