How do I appeal my hotel's property tax assessment?

Texas. The appraisal district sends a notice of appraised value, by May 1 or as soon as practical after. The usual protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mails the notice, whichever is later. The Comptroller's guidance stresses that the 30 days run from mailing, not from delivery. You file Form 50-132 with the appraisal review board (ARB).^[1]

Florida. A petition on value goes to the county value adjustment board (VAB) within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, called the TRIM notice, usually in mid-August.^[2] The statute says the same: on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the notice.^[7] The VAB may charge up to $50 to file.^[2]

California. For a regular appeal of the January 1 value, the 2026 filing period began July 2 and ends September 15 in counties where the assessor mailed value notices to all secured-roll owners by August 1, and November 30 in the others. The Board of Equalization publishes the list by county.^[3] If the value came from a supplemental or escape assessment, such as the reassessment after you bought the hotel, you have 60 days from the mailing of that notice.^[8]

Other states have their own calendars. The first step anywhere is to read the notice and find the date.

Texas. You can ask for an informal conference with the appraisal district before the ARB hearing. The ARB must give at least 15 days' notice of the hearing. After the ARB's written order you have 60 days to file in state district court, and the Tax Code requires a partial payment, usually the taxes not in dispute, before the delinquency date. If the ARB value is over $1 million, you may instead appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings by filing notice within 30 days and a $1,500 deposit within 90 days. Regular binding arbitration is available only for property valued at $5 million or less. Commercial property appraised at $62,883,169 or more in 2026 can ask for a special ARB panel.^[1]

Florida. You may request an informal conference with the property appraiser and file a VAB petition at the same time. The VAB notifies you of the hearing 25 days ahead, and you give your evidence to the appraiser 15 days before the hearing. You must still pay all non-ad valorem assessments and at least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes before they become delinquent, or the VAB must deny the petition. After the VAB decision you can sue in circuit court.^[2]

California. The Board of Equalization tells owners to talk to the assessor's staff first, then file an Assessment Appeal Application with the county clerk of the board. The law allows up to two years for the appeal to be resolved, notice of the hearing is mailed at least 45 days ahead, and you must keep paying the tax bills on time while you wait. A reduction comes back as a refund with interest. For a commercial property the applicant generally carries the burden of proof and presents first, except in listed situations such as when the assessor did not enroll a purchase price.^[8]

Appraisers call the total value of an operating hotel its going-concern value. It bundles real property, tangible personal property such as furniture and equipment, and intangibles such as the franchise, the workforce and goodwill. The term is defined at Going-Concern Value.

California is the most explicit. The Revenue and Taxation Code says the value of intangible assets and rights relating to the going-concern value of a business using taxable property shall not enhance or be reflected in the value of the taxable property, although property may be valued by assuming the presence of intangibles necessary to put it to productive use.^[4]

The California Supreme Court applied that to a hotel on August 28, 2025, in Olympic and Georgia Partners v. County of Los Angeles. The opinion notes that hotels are typically assessed by capitalizing income. It held that the assessor could include two income items, a city occupancy tax rebate and the key money the management company paid the owner, because both were income from the use of the property itself. But the county did not dispute that the brand's customer goodwill, the food and beverage operation and the assembled workforce were nontaxable, and the court affirmed that the county had not shown that deducting the management fee captured their full value. That issue went back to the assessment appeals board.^[5] For an owner, the lesson is that a management or franchise fee deduction is an argument the assessor must support with evidence, and so is your claim for a larger deduction.

Florida's statute lists eight factors the appraiser must consider, including the income from the property. When a sale price is used to value realty, the appraiser must exclude any portion of the net proceeds attributable to personal property.^[6]

Texas requires appraisal at market value as of January 1, and the Comptroller describes the income approach as suited to property bought and held to produce income.^[9] Separating hotel business value in Texas is argued case by case, so use a Texas property tax consultant or attorney.

Boards see residential comparables all day. A hotel case is different because the assessor usually values a hotel on income. Bring the last three years of profit and loss statements in the industry's uniform format, the trailing twelve months, the STR report showing how the hotel performs against its competitive set, and the capital plan or PIP that shows what the building needs.

Then show the math. Start with stabilized net operating income after a management fee, franchise fees and a reserve for replacing furniture and equipment. Capitalize it. Deduct the personal property if it is assessed separately. In a state that excludes business intangibles, make and support that deduction too. The income approach is walked through at /hotel-valuation/how-to-value-a-hotel, and you can test cap rate assumptions with /tools/hotel-value-estimator.

A recent appraisal helps, but check its premise of value. A lender's hotel appraisal may report going-concern value and allocate it among real property, personal property and intangibles. The allocation is the part a tax board cares about.

In California, comparable sales can be from any time before the valuation date, but an appeals board may not consider sales more than 90 days after it.^[8]

California presumes that the purchase price in an arm's-length deal is the fair market value of the real property. The same statute says that when a transaction includes property other than real property, the change in ownership statement must disclose the portion of the price allocable to each element, and that the presumption does not apply if the buyer fails to provide the required information.^[4] A hotel purchase always includes property other than real estate, so a documented allocation among real estate, furniture and equipment, and intangibles should be done at closing, not at the appeal.

The same allocation drives the buyer's depreciation and the seller's tax, so the parties already have a reason to agree on it. See /sell-a-hotel/taxes-when-selling-a-hotel.

In Texas, smaller properties get some protection from jumps. The Comptroller describes a circuit breaker that limits annual appraised value increases to 20 percent for real property that is not a homestead and is valued at $5,320,000 or less.^[9]

Buyers should also underwrite the reassessment before they bid. A hotel priced on the seller's old tax bill will miss its first-year budget. That check belongs in the list at /buy-a-hotel/due-diligence-checklist.

Property tax is an operating expense above net operating income. Every dollar saved falls to NOI, and NOI is what buyers and lenders capitalize. The Matthews Hotel Index for Q1 2026 puts select-service cap rates at 7.50 to 8.75 percent across 14 markets.^[10] At those rates a recurring $10,000 tax saving is worth roughly $114,000 to $133,000 of value.

The costs are the filing fee, your time, and a consultant or attorney if you use one. Some property tax consultants work for a share of the saving. Ask how the fee is calculated and whether it applies to later years.

Two cautions. An appeal opens the file. In California an appeals board can leave the value the same, decrease it or increase it, and it is not bound by either side's number.^[8] And a lower assessment today does not bind a future buyer's assessment in a state that reassesses on sale.

Guide

What is my hotel worth, and who decides?

Other questions in this guide

• Walk me through the math on valuing a select-service hotel
• What is a good cap rate for a hotel in 2026?
• Why did my hotel appraise for less than I expected?
• What is a hotel broker opinion of value, and how is it different from an appraisal?

Terms defined in the glossary

• Going-Concern Value
• Net Operating Income (NOI)
• Hotel Cap Rate
• Key Money

Our own data

• Matthews Hotel Index, Q1 2026
• Hotel value estimator
• Matthews Hotel Markets rate sheet