Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Duncan House Charitable Corporation v. Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD)
On September 1, 2023 the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Duncan House Charitable Corporation v. Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD), reversing the 14th Court of Appeals and ruling against the Harris County Appraisal District on a property tax exemption dispute. The primary issue was whether the property owner (the charity) was required to file annual exemption applications while its initial 2017 exemption application was pending. HCAD took the position that it did, and because the charity failed to file a subsequent application in 2018, HCAD claimed that it was barred from receiving the exemption in 2018 and all future years, even though its initial application was still pending. However, the Supreme Court disagreed with HCAD and the 14th Court of appeals and ruled instead that a property owner is not required to file subsequent annual applications while an initial application is pending, because once the initial application is approved, the exemption applies for all subsequent years under a plain reading of the statute.
Cantrell & Cantrell, PLLC represented the charity pro bono in this case.