Walker Property Tax Protest ARB Tax Savings over $3 MM in 2021
Walker County Appraisal District property tax protests not settled informally are heard by the county appraisal review board. Walker owners saved a total of $3 million in 2021 in tax protests, including savings $1 million in protests settled informally and $2 million in ARB protests. In a typical year, about 0 of protests are successful. The only way to lose is to not file a protest. They can't raise your value due to a protest; it can only be reduced. Claim your fair share of property tax savings by enrolling in the Property Tax Protection Program (TM). No flat fees. Pay only if you save that year. No upfront costs. Simple 3 step program: 1) enroll, 2) relax and 3) save.
Protests with Written ARB DeterminationSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Thousands | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total protests | 0.160 | 0.230 | 0.299 | 0.338 | 0.230 | 0.248 | 0.266 | 0.503 | 0.809 | 1.115 | 1.184 | |
| Protests single family residential | 0.089 | 0.100 | 0.111 | 0.140 | 0.106 | 0.097 | 0.088 | 0.137 | 0.264 | 0.390 | 0.534 | |
| Protests with all other | 0.071 | 0.130 | 0.188 | 0.198 | 0.124 | 0.151 | 0.178 | 0.366 | 0.546 | 0.725 | 0.650 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Hearing results depend on the appraiser assigned or the ARB; results vary widely. You do not know the appraiser or ARB panel prior to appealing.
Walker County Protests with Written ARB Determination
Walker County property owners have the right to appeal their property taxes to the Walker County Appraisal Review Board annually. It does not matter if the value increased, was unchanged or was reduced. You can protest based on market value and unequal appraisal. There is no cost to file a property tax protest and the ARB cannot raise your value at the hearing.
The graphs illustrate both residential and commercial (other) volumes.
Walker County property owners had appraisal review board hearings for 503 property tax protests, out of a total of 2,668 tax protests. Hence, 23% of Walker County protests proceeded to an ARB hearings. Home owners accounted for 137 of the ARB hearings.
Walker CAD Protests by Property Type
Walker County Appraisal District is typical in that it has more residential than commercial ARB hearings. This is because such a large portion of the parcels are homes. While the Walker County ARB hearings are about two-thirds residential, about two-thirds of the savings are commercial.
In other words, though there are more residential protests, commercial property protests generate larger property tax savings. There are two reasons for this: 1) commercial properties tend to have a higher value and 2) the percentage reduction for commercial is higher since valuation of commercial properties is more subjective than valuation of homes.
Walker County ARB Decisions with a ReductionSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Thousands | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total | 0.031 | 0.137 | 0.184 | 0.110 | 0.082 | 0.079 | 0.076 | 0.138 | 0.276 | 0.472 | 0.432 | |
| Single Family Residential | 0.020 | 0.073 | 0.062 | 0.071 | 0.032 | 0.031 | 0.029 | 0.036 | 0.083 | 0.180 | 0.212 | |
| Commercial / All Other | 0.011 | 0.064 | 0.122 | 0.039 | 0.050 | 0.048 | 0.047 | 0.102 | 0.193 | 0.292 | 0.220 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since An annual appeal is an insurance policy to avoid major increases.
Walker County ARB Decisions with a Reduction
Walker County has had more successful ARB hearings for residential than for commercial. This is because of the prevalence of residential accounts. About half of ARB appeals are successful, depending on the county.
Home owners accounted for 137 of the ARB hearings, accounting for 27% of the total 2021 Walker County ARB protest hearings.
Percent That Resulted in A ReductionSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Percent | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total Reduction | 19% | 60% | 62% | 33% | 36% | 32% | 29% | 27% | 34% | 42% | 36% | |
| Single Family Residential | 22% | 73% | 56% | 51% | 30% | 32% | 33% | 26% | 31% | 46% | 40% | |
| Commercial / All Other | 15% | 49% | 65% | 20% | 40% | 32% | 26% | 28% | 35% | 40% | 34% | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since To ensure their property taxes are at the lowest possible level.
Percent That Resulted in A Reduction
Here is a graph of the Walker County ARB decisions for residential and commercial showing what percent resulted in a reduction.
In Walker in 2021, there were 366 ARB hearings for home owners and 138 for commercial property owners. Home owners won a reduction in 26% of the Walker ARB hearings while commercial / other property owners won a reduction in 28% of their hearings.
Value Reduction From Written ARB DeterminationsSource: 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 | 2024 | ||
| Total $ Reduction | 0.001 | 0.004 | 0.004 | 0.006 | 0.024 | 0.021 | 0.011 | 0.021 | 0.031 | 0.091 | 0.041 | |
| Single Family Residential | 0 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.002 | 0.022 | 0.004 | |
| Commercial / All Other | 0.001 | 0.003 | 0.002 | 0.004 | 0.023 | 0.019 | 0.010 | 0.020 | 0.029 | 0.069 | 0.037 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Unequal appraisal allows protests based on neighbors having a better tax assessment.
Walker CAD Dollar Value Reduction from ARB Hearings
Walker County property owners challenged the value set by Walker County Appraisal District at the ARB in 503 cases. The ARB agreed reduction was appropriate in 138, or 27% of the hearings.