Do YOU Know What The Taxpayer Liaison Officer Does?
The Primary Duty Of The Taxpayer Liaison Officer (TLO) Is To Resolve Conflicts Between The Appraisal District And The Taxpayers. Important responsibilities associated with the Taxpayer Liaison Officer are: •
PROFESSIONAL TREATMENT TO CLIENTS/PARTIES o
•
RESEARCHING AND ENHANCING COMPLAINTS IN DETAIL o
•
The Taxpayer Liaison Officer reports directly to the appraisal district’s board of directors and not to the chief appraiser. Their primary role is to resolve problems not addressed through the normal channels.
After getting adequate information from the complainant, the Taxpayer Liaison Officer researches the complaint with an objective of resolving any legitimate complaints. Subsequently, a report is submitted along with comments and suggestions to the appraisal district’s board of directors at their next meeting. The TLO is required to report on all complaints and whether or not they have been resolved.
INVESTIGATION AND ERROR MANAGEMENT o
The Taxpayer Liaison Officer is responsible to investigate every complaint and attempt to resolve complaints.
o
For disabled and impaired complainants — If the complainant is disabled or impaired and cannot produce a written complaint, the complaint should be recorded and the tape played for the board in the place of a written complaint.
•
FOLLOW UP o
o
o
If the complaint is not resolved prior to the next appraisal district board of directors meeting, the TLO is required to report on the issue until it is resolved. The resolution can be to accommodate the taxpayer or to conclude there is nothing the appraisal district can do. However, appraisal districts go the extra mile to resolve TLO complaints since they will be reported at the appraisal district’s board of directors meeting. A primary benefit of filing a complaint with TLO is appraisal districts are eager to resolve complaints prior to the issue being reported to the appraisal district’s board of directors. Complaints made to appraisal district staff tend to get lost in the bureaucracy; complaints to the TLO tend to get a favorable resolution. Call your local appraisal district to get the name, phone number and email address for the TLO.
Blog Author Patrick O’Connor, MAI, Owner and President Patrick O’Connor has been active in reducing property taxes, providing expert witness testimony and appraising commercial real estate property since 1983. Pat is active in publishing analyses and data with respect to the real estate market, while being a highly regarded media spokesperson for the real estate community. He holds a MAI, the highest achievable designation from the Appraisal Institute, and is a licensed senior property tax consultant. Pat earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. In 2001, he authored the first definitive consumer guide to Texas property taxes, Cut Your Texas Property Taxes. Website url : https://www.poconnor.com/