Sources & Methodology

1. Our Editorial Mission for Sourcing

Every fact on a CAD page must be traceable back to a primary, authoritative source — most often the CAD’s own website, the Texas Comptroller, or the Texas Property Tax Code. If we can’t show where something came from, we don’t publish it. That principle is the foundation of every other process on this page.

2. Source Hierarchy — Six Tiers

Not all sources are equal. We rank them by authority and start at the top, moving down only when a higher-tier source doesn’t address the question:

3. Tier 1 — Individual CAD Websites

The CAD’s own website is the authoritative source for everything specific to that county: property search portals, online protest portals, current chief appraiser, contact details, ARB hearing schedules, and any local procedural quirks.

Examples of CAD websites we reference (each verified live):

• Dallas Central Appraisal District — dallascad.org
• Harris Central Appraisal District — hcad.org
• Travis Central Appraisal District — traviscad.org
• Bexar Appraisal District — bcad.org
• Tarrant Appraisal District — tad.org
• Collin Central Appraisal District — collincad.org
• Fort Bend Central Appraisal District — fbcad.org

4. Tier 2 — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

The Texas Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) is the statewide authority for property tax administration in Texas. It publishes statewide standards, all 50-series property-tax forms, and the biennial Property Value Study used for school funding equalization.

Comptroller resources we use:

5. Tier 3 — Texas Property Tax Code

The Texas Property Tax Code is the underlying statutory law administered by every CAD. The full code is published at statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Provisions we reference most:

6. Tier 4 — Texas Association of Appraisal Districts (TAAD)

The Texas Association of Appraisal Districts represents CADs across the state and provides training, certifications, and best-practice guidance to chief appraisers and CAD staff. We use TAAD as a reference for sector practice and definitions, not for current procedural details (which always come from the individual CAD).

Reference: taad.org

7. Tier 5 — IAAO and USPAP

The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) publishes mass-appraisal standards used by jurisdictions across North America, including most Texas CADs. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), published by the Appraisal Foundation, are the national appraisal-practice standards. We use both for context on how CADs are expected to value property.

• IAAO: iaao.org
• The Appraisal Foundation (USPAP): appraisalfoundation.org

8. Tier 6 — Reputable Texas Press and Academic Research

For background on a particular county or a sector trend, we reference reputable Texas press (The Texas Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman) and academic property-tax research from Texas universities. Press and academic sources are never the sole source for a current deadline, form, or procedure. Anything time-sensitive comes from Tier 1 or Tier 2.

9. URL Verification — How We Stop Broken Links

1. Manual click-through. Every external link is clicked by an editor before publication. We confirm the page loads, the destination matches the topic, and the URL is the canonical one (no tracking parameters, no redirect chains).
2. Domain authority check. CAD URLs are checked against the Comptroller’s county directory to confirm we’re linking to the official CAD, not a similarly named third-party.
3. Content match. The destination page must actually be the page we describe. A homestead application link that lands on a generic “Forms” index doesn’t pass — we link to the specific form.
4. HTTPS preference. Where the source publishes both HTTPS and HTTP, we link to HTTPS.
5. Quarterly re-verification. Every external link on every page is re-checked at least quarterly.
6. Reader-reported breakage. Broken links reported by readers are fixed within seven business days.
7. No Google Search fallbacks. If we can’t verify a CAD’s specific page, we don’t link to a Google Search results page as a substitute. We mark the section as “URL not yet verified” or omit it.

10. Fact-Checking Workflow

Every CAD page goes through this workflow before publication:

1. Drafter pulls facts from the CAD’s own page, the Comptroller’s directory, and the Property Tax Code where relevant. Each fact gets a source note.
2. Editor reads the source pages in full, including any “Important,” “Notice,” or “Update” banners that often hold the most current information.
3. Editor cross-checks key facts against the second-tier source (Comptroller for forms, Property Tax Code for deadlines).
4. URLs are tested live, not assumed.
5. Second editor reviews the page end-to-end before it goes live.
6. “Last reviewed” date is set to the publication date.

11. The Two-Source Cross-Reference Rule

Time-sensitive facts — a protest deadline, an ARB hearing window, a homestead form revision — must be confirmed by two independent sources before they go on a page. Acceptable combinations include:

• The CAD’s own page and the Comptroller’s published guidance
• The CAD’s own page and the relevant Property Tax Code section
• The Comptroller form (e.g., 50-114) and the Comptroller’s instructions document

If two sources disagree, we go with the more authoritative one — usually the Property Tax Code or the Comptroller — and flag the conflict to the editorial team for resolution.

12. Update Cycles

Texas property tax operates on a predictable annual calendar — notices in spring, protest deadlines in May, ARB hearings through summer, certification in fall, tax bills in October — so our review cycles are aligned to that calendar.

13. Citation Standards

• External links open in a new tab with rel="noopener" for security
• Affiliate links use rel="nofollow noopener sponsored" per FTC guidance
• Primary citations link directly to the CAD page, the Comptroller form, or the specific Property Tax Code section
• Form references use the Comptroller’s form number (Form 50-114, Form 50-132) so readers can find the form even if the URL changes
• Statutory references use the section-and-subsection format (Tex. Tax Code §41.44(a))
• Last-reviewed dates appear on every CAD page so readers can judge freshness

14. What We Don’t Use

• Property-tax-protest firm marketing pages. We don’t cite a consultant’s blog as authority for a CAD procedure. The CAD’s own page or the Comptroller is the authority.
• Anonymous blog posts. Even when factually accurate, anonymous content can’t be verified or held to account.
• Wikipedia as a sole source. Useful for orientation, never as the sole basis for a fact on a CAD page.
• Generic AI-generated content from other sites. We don’t republish or paraphrase content that we can’t trace to a primary source.
• Old archived pages. If the only available reference is a Wayback Machine snapshot, we treat the information as historical context, not current procedure.
• Social media posts from individuals or unofficial accounts, regardless of follower count.
• Out-of-state property-tax content applied to Texas. Texas property tax is unusually distinct (no state income tax, the Property Value Study, the §41.44 deadline structure, the homestead-ceiling rules), and out-of-state generalizations don’t transfer.

15. Reader Contributions and Corrections

Readers are an important part of our verification system. If you spot a discrepancy — a CAD’s page says one thing and ours says another — please email info@appraisaldistrict.org with subject line “Correction” and the URL of the page in question. The full corrections workflow is on the Editorial Policy page.

16. Audit Trail and Openness

Where a journalist, researcher, or property-tax professional needs to verify how we sourced a particular page, we make our editorial notes available on request. Email us with the URL of the page and the specific factual claim you want to trace, and we’ll respond within seven business days with the underlying source links and editorial notes. We have nothing to hide; transparency is a feature, not a cost.