Property owners in Bexar County have reclaimed more than $110 million by using their right to dispute assessed property values in early hearings for the 2023 tax year. Every year, the Bexar Appraisal District is in charge of determining the market value of both real estate and personal property in Bexar County. Based on initial and current tax rolls supplied by Bexar Appraisal District, O’Connor calculated this data.
Based on an analysis of data regarding property tax savings from recent years as reported on Bexar County Property Tax Trends, O’Connor forecasts that total 2023 property tax savings as an outcome of Bexar County property tax protests will reach around $107 million.
Property tax protests in 2023 have already helped homeowners save around $20 million. Bexar Appraisal District data indicates that as a result of 2023 tax protests, 39,480 home values have decreased. In Bexar County, the average reduction for residential properties totals $19,280, allowing the property owners to reclaim $521 in average property tax savings. These figures don’t take homestead exemptions into account and are based on a 2.7% tax rate.
The apartment property category in Bexar County has achieved the highest overall savings, with 699 accounts already processed. Initially valued at $17.9 billion, the assessment for these properties has been reduced by $1.3 billion, resulting in a current assessment of approximately $16.5 billion. These assessment reductions translate to significant property tax savings for apartment owners, totaling nearly $37 million based on a 2.7% tax rate. Furthermore, apartment building owners have also experienced the largest savings through the tax protest process. On average, apartment tax protests in Bexar County have resulted in a 7.8% reduction, saving property owners $53,919 in property taxes.
With an 18% fall in assessed value across 2,532 accounts, owners of land and other types of property in Bexar County have experienced the greatest percentage reduction. Owners receive a tax benefit of around $9.7 million, or $3,864 per account, when 2.7% tax is taken into consideration. The original $1.9 billion valuation was decreased by $362 million.
The assessed value of hotels that have already been contested and resolved has been successfully decreased from $2.5 billion to $2.3 billion by hotel owners. Due to this, $194 million in taxes were assessed at a lower amount, saving $5,251,980 in taxes at a 2.7% tax rate. These outcomes cover 179 hotels as of the time of writing. Hotels have experienced an average drop of 7.6% so far this year, saving $29,341 in taxes.
In Bexar County, workspace owners have saved the fourth most money overall on property taxes, totaling $13,644,045 for 922 office building tax protests that have been settled thus far. The initial valuation of $6.2 billion was decreased to $5.7 billion, resulting in a $505 million tax assessment reduction. Based on a 2.7% tax rate, annual savings on property taxes were $14,798 on average.
Tax objections filed by Bexar County property owners resulted in reductions for 45,628 properties in 2023, bringing the original assessed value of the county’s assets down from $50 billion to $46 billion, or an average drop of 8.01%. For both residential and commercial buildings, the average tax savings per protested property is $127,391.
Apartments with the largest 2023 property tax assessment reduction include the following:
- The owner of Hilltop at Shavano decreased the property tax assessment by $58 million, or nearly 100%, from $58 million to $67,410. Based on a 2.7% tax rate, this tax assessment reduction lowers their property taxes by $58,858,060.
- Due to a $13.8 million drop in their initial property tax assessment from $52 million to $39 million, the owner of 1800 Broadway Urban Residences will save $374,595 in 2023. For this high-rise residential complex constructed in 2012, the property taxes were reduced by 25%.
- The owner of Lenox Hills Townhomes and Apartments decreased their property taxes by 18%, or $371,757. The initial assessment for 2023 property taxes, which was $73 million, was decreased by $13.7 million to $60 million.
The Bexar County Appraisal District has a team of over 161 experts who appraise property in Bexar County. However, the aforementioned cases demonstrate the substantial possibility of property tax savings provided by the property tax appeal process.
The baseline values provided by the Bexar County Appraisal District are contrasted with the most recent tax assessments for 2023 to determine the reduction in the 2023 property tax assessment. Properties that were protested but received no reduction are not included in this data, which raises the average reduction.
Property owners are strongly advised to thoroughly examine their yearly property tax assessments and submit an appeal on an annual basis. In a customary year, an overwhelming majority of property tax protests in Bexar County result in success, with well over half of them being granted.
