Williamson Property Tax Protest ARB Tax Savings over $16 MM in 2023

While informal appeals have begun to falter across Williamson County, taxpayers are finding victory in formal appeals to the appraisal review board (ARB). The county set records across the board in hearings, victories, and the amount of taxable value cut in 2023. All these factors have been rising the charts since 2021 and should only improve as the county embraces ARB hearings at a greater clip. Increase your chances for victory when you enroll in O’Connor’s Property Tax Protection Program™, today. You will get annual property tax appeals free of charge, with no hidden fees or upfront costs. You will only pay a contingency fee from your winnings if O’Connor can lower your taxes. Enroll, relax, and 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	1.585	1.741	2.146	2.128	2.109	2.326	2.291	3.377	6.935	38.583	48.728
Protests single family residential	1.056	1.245	1.417	1.375	1.332	1.435	1.325	2.475	6.165	30.418	36.042
Protests with all other	0.529	0.496	0.729	0.753	0.777	0.891	0.966	0.902	0.770	8.165	12.686

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.

Williamson County Protests with Written ARB Determination

Williamson County straddles the line between a traditional rural area and an up-and-coming suburb of Austin. This mixed nature applies to housing, businesses, property values, and property tax protests. While neighboring Travis County is based around appraisal review board (ARB) hearings when it comes to tax protests, Williamson still relies on informal appeals. As these informal protests lose efficacy, ARB hearings are starting to fill the void.

You need to have the perfect evidence to nail your formal hearing. Join up with O’Connor and get the backing of one of the largest property tax consulting firms in the nation. Assisting over 185,000 clients in 2024 alone, O’Connor has the know-how, reach, and resources needed to challenge the Williamson Central Appraisal District(WCAD) in front of the ARB. There is no cost to enroll and O’Connor will protest your taxes every year.

WCAD Protests by Property Type

Protests determined at the ARB level reach their highest number yet in 2023, with 3,408 hearings being held. Formal appeals had been slowly increasing for years, but they took off like a rocket in 2021 and have yet to look back. Property tax protests have been rising in general in Williamson County, and currently 31% of all property in the county is protested annually.

The driving force for the sudden spike is single family residences. From just 1,325 being formally protested in 2020, to 2,475 being protested in 2021, formal appeals for homes nearly doubled in just one year. In 2023, 2,546 homes were formally protested. This generally coincides with the falling success rate of informal appeals for homes, which would make sense, as more homeowners push for a second chance of cutting their values and taxes. Commercial property appeals have largely stayed the same over the years. 57.61% of informal commercial appeals were successful in 2023, which means fewer are forced to go to the ARB

Williamson 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	1.069	1.469	1.541	1.585	1.564	1.372	1.187	1.948	3.826	21.284	26.792
Single Family Residential	0.802	0.989	1.135	1.028	1.121	0.980	0.866	1.545	3.545	16.652	19.524
Commercial / All Other	0.267	0.480	0.406	0.557	0.443	0.392	0.321	0.403	0.281	4.632	7.268

Texas property owners should protest annually since An annual appeal is an insurance policy to avoid major increases.

Williamson County ARB Decisions with a Reduction

The general rule is that it takes more effort and evidence to get a win when an appeal goes to the ARB. The board is a trio of experts that act as impartial judges between the taxpayer and WCAD, and decide who wins based on the evidence presented. Despite these stringent requirements, many taxpayers found success in 2023. 1,979 hearings ended in a reduction for the taxpayer, the highest seen in the county’s history. 1,611 single family residences and 368 commercial properties were successful.

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	67%	84%	72%	74%	74%	59%	52%	58%	55%	55%	55%
Single Family Residential	76%	79%	80%	75%	84%	68%	65%	62%	58%	55%	54%
Commercial / All Other	50%	97%	56%	74%	57%	44%	33%	45%	36%	57%	57%

Texas property owners should protest annually since To ensure their property taxes are at the lowest possible level.

Percent That Resulted in A Reduction

56% of all appeals that went to the ARB ended in a reduction for the taxpayer. This is slightly above the 54.74% win rate for informal appeals. The percentage of victories has gone down in the past decade, but this is because there are more cases than ever, which drags down the average. 63% of single family homes that made it to this stage got a reduction, a huge improvement over the 53% rate of victory in informal appeals. 43% of commercial properties were able to land a victory, which was under the 57% rate in informal appeals.

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	0.063	0.109	0.185	0.214	0.243	0.312	0.123	0.160	0.461	0.763	1.457
Single Family Residential	0.017	0.025	0.027	0.028	0.029	0.026	0.026	0.023	0.080	0.137	0.316
Commercial / All Other	0.046	0.084	0.158	0.186	0.213	0.286	0.096	0.137	0.381	0.626	1.140

Texas property owners should protest annually since Unequal appraisal allows protests based on neighbors having a better tax assessment.

Dollar Value Reduction from Williamson ARB Hearings

The amount of taxable value reduced by formal hearings increased by the steepest amount of all metrics. $763 million in value was cut thanks to these protests in 2023, up from $461 million in 2022. This was thanks to the dramatic success of commercial properties in 2022 and 2023. After only winning $137 million in 2021, businesses cut $381 million in 2022 and $626 million in 2023. Often, those commercial properties that are not successful at this level move on to judicial appeals, though even victorious taxpayers may want to attempt to increase their savings with a lawsuit. Homes saw a similar, if much smaller trajectory. Single family homes saved $137 million in value in 2023, up from $80 million in 2022.