Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: a property-tax appeal is won or lost on a date. 🔴 The deadline is usually measured from the notice, not from the tax bill — and by the time the bill arrives the window has often closed.
Three states, quoted exactly
| State | The deadline, as the statute states it |
|---|---|
| Texas | May 15 or 30 days after the notice was delivered, whichever is later |
| Florida | 25 days after the TRIM notice is mailed; 30 days for exemption or classification issues |
| California | Filing window 2 July to 15 September |
🔴 Notice the three different shapes. Texas is a hybrid of a fixed date and a rolling one. Florida runs purely from a mailing. California is a fixed window that ignores your notice entirely. Knowing “there is usually about a month” is exactly the kind of half-fact that costs an appeal.
Every other state
⚠️ We are not listing them. Deadlines are the one thing on this subject where being approximately right is worthless — a reader who misses the date has no appeal at all, however over-assessed they are. Three states are quoted because we read those three statutes.
What to do instead, and it takes one call: ask your county assessor two questions — what is the appeal deadline, and is it measured from the notice date or a fixed calendar date? Write down the answer and the date the notice was mailed.
Then the question is what you are arguing
Most people appeal on value. The stronger argument is often uniformity — that you are assessed higher than comparable properties, regardless of what the market says. And if the reason you are here is affordability rather than accuracy, senior relief programmes and deferral, with its lien trap are different tools.
Sources
Texas: Tex. Tax Code §41.44. Florida: Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d). California: Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §1603(a). All read 7 August 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. Mineral and property-tax law is state law; confirm anything decision-critical locally.