Total Parcels and Total Protests State of TexasSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Thousands | |||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Total Parcels | 18,305.500 | 19,154.100 | 19,207.000 | 19,931.270 | 20,663.600 | 21,205.140 | 21,249.550 | 20,959.780 | 22,165.250 | 23,035.740 | |
| Total Protests Filed | 1,195.870 | 1,347.330 | 1,576.890 | 1,874.340 | 1,814.910 | 1,997.330 | 2,186.120 | 2,190.760 | 2,712.970 | 3,126.390 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Mass appraisal used by appraisal districts includes many errors based on limited resources. About 500 appraisers value all 20 million Texas tax parcels; about 40,000 per appraiser. Another 1,500 appraisers measure new construction.
Texas Property Tax Protests
Total Texas property tax parcels for all Texas appraisal districts (represented by the green bars). The actual number of parcels protested are shown by the red line. This means that of all the parcels in the district, only a small portion of them are protesting to save money.
Each property tracked by the appraisal district is a parcel. Parcels can include real property, business personal property and minerals.
Total Parcels in Texas Appraisal Districts
In 2019, there was a 3% reduction in property tax protests in Texas.
Total Protests TexasSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Thousands | |||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Total Protests | 1,195.870 | 1,347.330 | 1,576.890 | 1,874.340 | 1,814.910 | 1,997.330 | 2,186.120 | 2,190.760 | 2,712.970 | 3,126.390 | |
| Single Family Home Protests | 694.200 | 754.920 | 888.890 | 1,087.270 | 1,035.370 | 1,141.440 | 1,258.300 | 1,284.530 | 1,647.480 | 1,878.000 | |
| Commercial / Other Protests | 501.680 | 592.420 | 688.000 | 787.070 | 779.540 | 855.890 | 927.820 | 906.230 | 1,065.490 | 1,248.390 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since It is their right.
Total Protests
Texas property tax protests by type are displayed. In most counties, the number of single family protests exceeds the number of commercial protests. However, the savings from commercial protests are greater than the reductions from single family appeals. Virtually all commercial property owners appeal their property taxes. In 2018, we estimated 50% of commercial owners appealed their property tax assessment while only 15% of homeowners appealed.
Homeowners pay more than their fair share of property taxes by not appealing. The vast majority of commercial value is appealed statewide, generally with substantial reductions.
Texas property owners filed 2,018,000 property tax protests in 2019. Over half were by homeowners (1,142,000).
% of Parcels Protested TexasSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Percent | |||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Percent Protested | 6.53% | 7.03% | 8.21% | 9.4% | 8.78% | 9.42% | 10.29% | 10.45% | 12.24% | 13.57% | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since About 60% of appeals are successful.
State of Texas - % Parcels Protested
Following is an indication of the portion of all Texas property parcels protested or appealed each year. Property owners handle about one-third of the appeals and hire property tax consultants for the other two-thirds.
In 2019, 10.5% of Texas property owners protested their property taxes.
Protests by Property Type TexasSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Thousands | |||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Total Number | 1,195.872 | 1,347.332 | 1,576.889 | 1,874.341 | 1,814.908 | 1,997.325 | 2,186.115 | 2,190.762 | 2,712.970 | 3,126.391 | |
| Single Family | 694.196 | 754.917 | 888.893 | 1,087.272 | 1,035.367 | 1,141.437 | 1,258.300 | 1,284.530 | 1,647.476 | 1,877.999 | |
| Multi-Family Res | 31.031 | 35.632 | 49.353 | 52.264 | 49.984 | 44.286 | 56.356 | 56.695 | 66.999 | 74.463 | |
| Commercial | 182.331 | 205.192 | 223.835 | 257.129 | 236.863 | 241.950 | 278.544 | 267.022 | 271.822 | 301.878 | |
| All Other | 288.310 | 351.590 | 414.810 | 477.680 | 492.690 | 569.650 | 592.920 | 582.520 | 726.670 | 872.050 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Correcting an error in the appraisal district’s description of your property can reap savings in future years.
Texas Protests by Property Type
Appraisal district protests on property taxes in Texas are illustrated below based on the type of property and number of protests. Homeowners typically account for over half the property tax protests. However, this is a small portion of all homeowners. Most commercial accounts are appealed annually. It is a critical factor in managing property taxes. This is often the largest operating expense for commercial property owners. They have teams compile information property by property to assist us in reducing their taxes.
The number of protests filed among all property owners has increased every year since 2012 (except 2018) in Texas State. With 56% being single family in 2019.
Value of Property Protested by TypeSource: 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 | ||
| Value Protested Total | 766.370 | 1,007.740 | 1,090.550 | 1,195.150 | 1,315.640 | 1,551.140 | 1,671.730 | 1,666.800 | 2,252.370 | 2,663.150 | |
| Single Family | 178.540 | 248.310 | 283.900 | 324.130 | 344.960 | 401.100 | 422.450 | 467.850 | 724.720 | 891.240 | |
| Multi-Family Res | 95.910 | 127.740 | 139.030 | 155.170 | 181.210 | 201.550 | 244.630 | 258.020 | 324.530 | 371.520 | |
| Commercial | 286.410 | 392.440 | 424.840 | 452.350 | 487.190 | 548.140 | 617.310 | 594.640 | 689.640 | 759.250 | |
| All Other | 205.510 | 239.260 | 242.780 | 263.510 | 302.280 | 400.350 | 387.330 | 346.290 | 513.470 | 641.150 | |
Value of Texas Property Protested by Type
Here are the Texas appraisal districts' property tax protests based on the dollar volume and type of property are illustrated in this graph. While the number of residential appeals is typically larger, the market value of commercial accounts protested is larger than the value of all residential accounts protested.
The total value protested has increased every year since 2014. With 2019’s value being $1.54 trillion.