Most protest companies say that you only pay if they save you money on your taxes, but I really don't get how that works.

Lets say your 2021 appraised value was 400k and this year it got bumped to 525k (a 31% YoY increase which was fairly typical this year). Unless a company is going to lower your appraised rate to below $440,000 they aren't going to save you any tax dollars (this year) because of the 10% YoY cap.

Am I missing something??

I'm assuming they have to get paid on the reduced amount, not necessarily on what they save you on your 2022 taxes.

• Let's say the company has a successful protest and reduces your '22 value from $525k to $475,000. Even though they don't save you any tax money in '22 I'm guessing they still get paid on the $50k reduced amount? 50,000*.025*.25 = $437.50 (assuming a 25% fee amount from the 3rd party company)

From what I can tell, it is a waste of time to get a protest company involved in your situation as I am in the same boat. They may lower your value but not your bill so what's the use

Brazos county may lower it one year then the next year raise it twice as much to make up for the prior year, seen it happen to me 3x on 3 separate properties

aggiepaintrai said:

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Brazos county may lower it one year then the next year raise it twice as much to make up for the prior year, seen it happen to me 3x on 3 separate properties.

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That's also been my experience in another Texas county.

Like a villain in one of those horror movies, they never stay 'killed', and keep turning up again and again.

It may be because each year they go back to their neighborhood-wide algorithms, and any adjustments made the prior year on a particular property are simply forgotten or ignored.

I used one last year and they filed a protest online and got the value dropped and saved me maybe a couple hundred in taxes. And then the company never billed me for their services. Feels odd.

If that's the case, and they aren't doing the uniformly to the rest of your neighbors, you'll have a great argument for unequal appraisal.

It's a PITA, but I promise you it's worthwhile to fight your value every year, even when it won't save you anything in the short term. Otherwise, you're just conceding defeat.

I have a property where i have lost my paperwork...and do not have ifile number.


Anyone know if a protest company needs my ifile number?

Can anyone recommend a reputable company to help protest my mom's taxes in Comal county? One line item jumped literally 16X from year to year. Yes, 16X…no changes in the physical property YoY. Unreal.

Any company I've used only gets paid if they lower your taxes, not simply your value.

This guy

I submitted a protest request through Ownwell. Their fee is 25% of any property tax savings and nothing is owed if the protest is unsuccessful. I figured I don't have anything to lose and the process was quick and easy.

If anyone decides to give them a shot use the following link and we'll both get a $25 credit:
https://www.ownwell.com/?owl=2EFAFZCAC

What a frustrating system.