Texas property tax appeals — overview

Last reviewed: May 2026 · Coverage: 10 counties + state-wide framework

Property tax protests in the largest annual-reappraisal state — from Travis to Harris, urban CADs to Hill Country.

How Texas works

Texas reappraises every parcel every year at 100% of market value. There are no townships — each county has one Appraisal District (CAD). The dominant homeowner protection is the 10% Homestead Cap (Texas Constitution Article VIII §1-b(d)). The procedural escalation runs CAD informal review → Appraisal Review Board (ARB) → Binding Arbitration / SOAH / District Court. The 2025 SB4/SB23 legislation raised the General Homestead Exemption to $140,000 with an additional $60,000 for Over-65/Disabled — combined $200,000 total off school district taxable value for qualifying seniors. The hidden lever: §25.25(c) 5-year lookback for clerical and factual errors.

Read the complete guide

For the full procedural framework, evidence rules, and 10 county-specific quick-reference accordions covering Travis, Harris, Tarrant, Bexar, Dallas, Collin, Williamson, Denton, Fort Bend, Montgomery, see:

→ Texas Property Tax Appeals — The Complete Guide

The complete guide covers all 12 sections of our state-cornerstone schema: quick facts, how assessments work, when appeals make sense, the appeal process step-by-step, evidence rules, what wins and loses at the appeal venue, exemptions, county-by-county quick references, recent legislative context, FAQ, service-company landscape, and primary sources.

Cross-state topic explainers

• Property tax assessment math: ratios, millage, equalization
• Finding comparable sales evidence
• What property tax appeal hearings actually look like
• State assessment caps overview
• Property tax service companies — honest comparison
• Senior and disability exemption deep-dive
• Property record errors as appeal basis
• Recent purchase price as appeal evidence
• Reassessment cycles by state
• DIY vs. hire decision matrix

Calculators

• Property tax estimator — state-aware annual tax bill estimate
• Appeal savings estimator — cumulative savings with state-specific carry-forward
• Service vs. DIY breakeven calculator

Editorial framework

The Property Tax Desk publishes editorial guidance grounded in primary state and county sources. Our coverage of Texas:

• Statutory citations verified against current state code
• Dollar amounts verified against current state agency publications
• County URLs verified live at every quarterly re-grounding pass
• Substantive accuracy and YMYL framing reviewed before publication

See /methodology/ for our editorial review process and /editorial-policy/ for our YMYL standards.

The Property Tax Desk Editorial Team