How does an HOA protest the property tax appraisal on its common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA treasurer finds a common area parcel taxed at full value and protests it, with Texas, Florida and Colorado rules, deadlines and sample wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer

In Texas, Florida and Colorado, the pool lot, the entrance tract, the pond and the greenbelt should carry little or no tax of their own. Texas appraises qualifying association property at a nominal value, and Florida and Colorado spread the value of common elements across the owners' lots instead of taxing the common parcels separately. The reasoning is the same in all three states: the right to use the amenities is already baked into what each home is worth, so taxing the pool again would count it twice. When an appraisal district or assessor puts a market value on a common parcel anyway, the association protests it like any other owner would, on the regular deadline. Miss that deadline and you usually pay the tax for that year. Rules differ by state and by how your governing documents set up the common area, so treat this as a starting point, not legal advice.

Start by finding every parcel the association owns

Go to the county appraisal district or assessor website and search by owner name, trying every version of the association's legal name, with and without Inc., plus the developer's name. Compare what you find against the recorded plat, which shows every reserve, lot and tract meant for common use. For each parcel write down the account number, the legal description, the appraised or actual value and the amount billed last year. Two problems turn up most often. A common parcel carries a market value, usually because the property record never picked up the association's status. A tract the developer was supposed to deed over is still in the developer's name, which is a title problem to fix with the declarant or your attorney before it becomes a tax problem. Put the parcel list in the board's records so the next treasurer does not start over. Our guide on who owns the common areas in an HOA explains how title usually passes from the developer.

Texas: qualify under Tax Code section 23.18, then protest

Texas Tax Code section 23.18 says property owned by a qualifying nonprofit homeowners' organization is appraised at a nominal value to avoid double taxation, and it names swimming pools, parks, meeting halls, parking lots and tennis courts as examples. The property has to be held for all members equally, and each member needs a nonrevokable right to use it that is attached to their own lot. The association itself has to pass seven tests in section 23.18(d). The two most likely to trip up an association are the money tests: at least 60 percent of gross income has to come from member dues, fees or assessments, and at least 90 percent of spending has to go to acquiring, building, managing and maintaining the association's property. The seventh test ties qualification to section 528 of the Internal Revenue Code, the provision behind Form 1120-H. A community with a large cell tower lease or steady clubhouse rentals to outsiders should run those percentages first. If a common parcel shows a market value, file a written protest with the appraisal review board by May 15 or 30 days after the notice of appraised value was delivered, whichever is later, under section 41.44. The Comptroller's Form 50-132 works, and a letter works too. Under section 41.41 you can protest the appraised value or any other action of the appraisal district that adversely affects the owner.

Texas: the hearing and what comes after

Ask whether the district holds an informal meeting before the formal hearing. If it does, bring the plat, the deed and the declaration language giving every owner an equal right to use the property, since that is often all an appraiser needs to fix the record. If it goes to the appraisal review board, section 41.461 requires the chief appraiser to tell you, at least 14 days before the hearing, that you can request the evidence the district plans to use. Ask for it and read it. Under section 41.45 the association can appear by phone or video if it says so in the protest or in writing ahead of time, or it can submit evidence by affidavit. The board issues a written order, and the notice of that order has to explain the right to appeal to district court. A petition for review is due within 60 days of receiving the notice under section 42.21, which is the point to bring in a property tax attorney or consultant. If the board wants someone else to handle the protest, name them on the Comptroller's Form 50-162, appointment of agent.

Florida: section 193.0235 and the 25-day petition

Florida Statutes section 193.0235 is blunt. Taxes and non-ad valorem assessments are assessed against the lots in a platted residential subdivision, not against common elements used exclusively for the benefit of lot owners, regardless of who owns them. The property appraiser prorates the common element value into the lots. The definition covers land shown on the plat as common, easements retained for the subdivision, drainage and retention ponds designated on the plat or site plan, and property in the same county used for at least 10 years exclusively for lot owners. That last category helps an older community whose amenity parcel was never platted as common. A parcel open to the public may not meet the exclusive-use test. If a common parcel shows a taxable value on the TRIM notice, the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, call the property appraiser first. Section 194.011(2) lets any taxpayer request an informal conference. If that does not fix it, file a petition with the value adjustment board on or before the 25th day after the notice was mailed, under section 194.011(3)(d). Do not wait on the informal conference to run out the petition clock.

Colorado: common elements are not taxed separately

Colorado handles this in the Common Interest Ownership Act. C.R.S. 38-33.3-105(2) says the common elements of a condominium or planned community are assessed proportionately to each unit and are not separately taxed or assessed. In a planned community the split follows each unit's allocated common expense liability in the declaration. C.R.S. 39-1-103(10) tells assessors to value common property this way. If a common parcel carries its own value on the notice of valuation, object to the assessor under C.R.S. 39-5-122. For real property the objection has to be delivered, postmarked or given in person by June 8, and the county cannot require a particular form, so a letter stating the reason is enough. If the assessor declines to change the value, it has to give its reasons in writing, and that written decision tells you the next step. For past years, C.R.S. 39-10-114 allows a petition for abatement or refund of taxes levied erroneously or illegally, filed within two years after January 1 of the year after the taxes were levied. So a common parcel wrongly taxed for the 2025 tax year can still be petitioned through the end of 2027. Confirm the date with the county treasurer before relying on it.

Wording the board can use

Authorize the protest at a board meeting so the minutes show who can sign. A motion: "I move that the board authorize the treasurer to file a protest of the [year] appraised value of account number [number], the association's common area at [location], and to represent the association at any informal meeting or hearing on it." A protest letter paragraph for Texas: "The [association name] owns this parcel and holds it for the use and enjoyment of all members equally. Each member has a nonrevokable right to use it that is appurtenant to the member's lot under Article [x] of the recorded declaration. The association meets the requirements of Tax Code section 23.18(d), and the parcel should be appraised at a nominal value." For Florida, swap in section 193.0235 and the plat designation, and for Colorado, C.R.S. 38-33.3-105(2). Attach the plat page with the parcel highlighted, the deed into the association, the declaration's common area and easement articles, and for Texas the latest year's income and expense totals showing the 60 and 90 percent figures, plus a copy of the association's most recent Form 1120-H.

A calendar and the mistakes that cost money

January: the treasurer searches the appraisal and assessor sites for every association parcel and updates the list. Spring: watch the mail. Texas Tax Code section 25.19 has the district send a notice of appraised value for non-homestead property by May 1 or as soon after as practicable, but only when the value went up, the parcel is new to the roll, or an exemption was cut. A common parcel stuck at the same market value year after year gets no notice at all, which is why the January search matters. May 15 in Texas and June 8 in Colorado: protests due, unless your Texas notice arrived late enough to push the 30-day date past May 15. Mid-August in Florida: the Department of Revenue says TRIM notices usually go out then, and the 25-day petition clock starts on mailing. Fall: tax bills arrive, and any bill on a common parcel is a sign something slipped. The expensive mistakes are predictable. Boards assume a small bill is normal and pay it for a decade. They mail the protest to the wrong office, since Texas protests go to the appraisal review board, not the tax collector. They let a volunteer argue market value when the real point is that the parcel should not carry market value at all. And they forget that a large outside rental can fail the Texas income test. Keep paying bills on time while you sort it out, since a protest and a late penalty run on separate tracks. Our guide on whether an HOA has to file a tax return or pay taxes covers the federal side of the same money.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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