Services

Armstrong & Armstrong provides all the legal services that a Texas Appraisal Review Board is likely to need. The firm can advise ARBs on all legal issues related to Texas property taxes, including:

Appraisals

Exemptions

Agricultural  appraisals and other special tax breaks

Taxable situs and interstate-commerce issues

Protests

Appraisal-roll corrections

Challenges

Procedures

Hearings

Rules governing an ARB’s independence and objectivity

 

We can provide instruction to ARBs to supplement the Comptroller’s training courses. We can attend ARB hearings and meetings.When the need arises, we can represent ARBs in trial courts and appellate courts.

Training

Changes to the law often make an make an ARB's duties more complicated. The Comptroller's training courses can't cover everything that ARB members need to know, and Appraisal Districts can't provide training. We provide  training workshops designed to reinforce and supplement the Comptroller's courses. Our workshops are customized to address the issues that are most important to a particular ARB and to answer the members' questions. We do not have to be politically correct or avoid issues that are controversial or unsettled. Supplemental training workshops can also be provided in a webinar format at a lower cost. 

 

Fees

Our fees are based on a rate of $200.00 per hour of a lawyer’s time, plus certain expenses. Lower fees may be provided as part of a retainer agreement (see below). Full details about fees, expenses and billing will be set out in a written contract between Armstrong & Armstrong and an ARB client.

Retainer Agreements

Our goal is to make our services affordable to appraisal districts in counties of all sizes. In order to do that, we offer two standard retainer agreements.

Agreement No. 1 is recommended for an appraisal district that is small to medium-sized in terms of its population and parcel count. A retainer of $500, will cover the first four hours of time that a lawyer spends working for the ARB during the calendar year ($125 per hour). After the first four hours, additional hours will be provided at a rate of $200.00 per hour and billed monthly.

Agreement No. 2 is for larger appraisal districts. A retainer of $1,000 will cover the first seven hours of time that a lawyer spends working for the ARB during the calendar year ($142.86 per hour). After the first seven hours, additional hours will be provided at a rate of $200.00 per hour and billed monthly.

If your ARB anticipates a greater need for legal services, please let us know, and we will be happy to propose a retainer agreement tailored to the ARB’s needs.

A retainer agreement not only saves money, it saves time when a need arises. If the ARB has already selected Armstrong & Armstrong as its counsel, if the board of directors has already budgeted for ARB legal services and if a retainer has been paid, we will be able to begin work immediately when the ARB needs help.