How the Judicial Appeals Were ResolvedSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Judicial Appeals | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Number of Judicial Appeals Resolved | 6339 | 8345 | 9091 | 9130 | 11263 | 12726 | 12862 | 15044 | 15673 | 19516 |
| By Agreed Judgment | 5434 | 7190 | 8531 | 8573 | 10633 | 11410 | 11932 | 13812 | 14775 | 18011 |
| By Court Judgment or Other | 905 | 1155 | 560 | 557 | 630 | 1316 | 930 | 1232 | 898 | 1505 |
Texas property owners should protest annually since An annual appeal is an insurance policy to avoid major increases.
Texas Judicial Appeal Resolutions
Texas appeals are mostly resolved by settlement. The amount of market value subject to judicial appeals and the assessment reduction from judicial appeals are in the second and third graphs. The fourth graph shows actual tax savings by year by property type.
The total judicial appeals resolved in Texas has been more than 11,200 since 2018.
Texas Judicial Appeal Resolution Summary
Texas appraisal district judicial appeals are almost always resolved. Less than 1 in 100 go to trial. In 2018, of the appeals from Texas, 94.5% of Texas property tax judicial appeals are settled by agreement.
Appraised Value (ARB) of Resolved Judicial AppealsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Billions of $ | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Appraised Value (ARB) | 80.5595 | 146 | 164 | 188 | 212 | 232 | 241 | 311 | 336 | 382.3897 |
Texas property owners should protest annually since To maintain their rights to appeal to or through the judicial appeal process. Owners must exhaust administrative options to pursue binding arbitration or a judicial appeal
Appraised Value (ARB) of Resolved Judicial Appeals
Texas appraisal districts have substantial market value subject to a judicial appeal. For most counties, the amount of accounts with judicial appeals is in the hundreds of million or tens of billions. While the number of cases is small, the total dollars at stake is large. This graph shows the value of accounts resolved by year in judicial appeals by Texas Appraisal District.
Judicial appeals were settled in 2019 for Texas tax parcels with a value of $232 billion after the appraisal review board. This is 8% higher than 2018.
Value Reduction from Judicial AppealsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Billions of $ | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Total Reduction from Judicial Appeals | 9.1417 | 14.7385 | 18.3997 | 21.2072 | 24.1717 | 26.3643 | 22.2238 | 30.8310 | 34.4128 | 42.2730 |
| Single Family | 0.1042 | 0.186 | 0.1735 | 0.1892 | 0.2209 | 0.2686 | 0.2919 | 0.3205 | 0.3631 | 0.5146 |
| Multi-Family | 1.9173 | 3.0917 | 4.2915 | 4.8106 | 5.052 | 5.8072 | 5.8902 | 9.4717 | 10.0357 | 14.1689 |
| Commercial | 4.7627 | 8.4524 | 10.7285 | 12.1688 | 14.1384 | 14.1546 | 13.4563 | 16.1981 | 17.907 | 24.4897 |
| All Other | 2.3575 | 3.0083 | 3.2063 | 4.0386 | 4.7604 | 6.1339 | 2.5854 | 4.8407 | 6.1071 | 3.0999 |
Texas property owners should protest annually since It is a responsibility of ownership. Large commercial owners generally appeal annually and obtain a reduction. Why should homeowners be excluded?
Texas Taxpayer Value Reduction
from Judicial Appeals
Texas property owners are often able to further reduce the ARB value by about 10% with a judicial appeal. The total amount property owners are able to reduce taxable values is large.
Texas commercial property owners reduced their property taxes by $26.9 million in 2019 as a result of judicial appeal settlements.
Tax Savings From Judicial AppealsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Millions of $ | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Total Tax Reduction | 246.8261 | 397.9383 | 496.7914 | 572.5933 | 652.6349 | 711.8354 | 600.0434 | 832.4371 | 929.1454 | 1,141.3711 |
| Single Family | 2.8146 | 5.0233 | 4.6837 | 5.1075 | 5.9636 | 7.2534 | 7.8805 | 8.6532 | 9.8024 | 13.893 |
| Multi-Family | 51.7674 | 83.4757 | 115.8696 | 129.8862 | 136.4039 | 156.7940 | 159.0366 | 255.7351 | 270.9629 | 382.5591 |
| Commercial | 128.5924 | 228.2143 | 289.6687 | 328.5567 | 381.7376 | 382.1731 | 363.3198 | 437.3494 | 483.4878 | 661.222 |
| All Other | 63.6518 | 81.2250 | 86.5694 | 109.0429 | 128.5298 | 165.6150 | 69.8066 | 130.6994 | 164.8923 | 83.6973 |
Texas property owners should protest annually since The appraisal district uses inaccurate data, factors and an inaccurate model to estimate values. Half are too high and half too low; very few are just right. Even if you are under-valued on market value, you can appeal on unequal appraisal.
State of Texas Property Tax Reduction from Judicial Appeals
Texas property owners saved an estimated total of over $615 million in property taxes in 2018 as a result of judicial appeals. This amount is expected to increase due to more aggressive assessment by appraisal districts and their decision not to consider unequal appraisal informally or at the ARB. The amount of reduction varies by county. While large savings from judicial appeals sound good, $0 savings at the county level may be better. It would be an indication that they are working with property owners informally to resolve disputes. Whenever possible, it is better to resolve disputes as early as possible.
Texas appraisal districts range from informal settlement rates with O’Connor of 0 to 10% up to perhaps 97% for one county. The Texas Tax Code is consistent throughout the state. However, each appraisal district is a separate fiefdom, accountable to no one except the tax entities for whom it values property.