Thanks to successful property tax appeals, property owners in Hidalgo County have collectively saved more than $73 million!

In a victorious display of property owners’ determination, assessments of their property values for the 2023 tax year were successfully challenged in Hidalgo County, resulting in a remarkable recovery of over $73 million. The Hidalgo County Appraisal District holds the responsibility of annually determining the market value of all real estate and personal property within the county. Leveraging the initial and final tax rolls data supplied by the Hidalgo County Appraisal District, O’Connor has skillfully transformed these data into insightful comparisons.

In contrast to O’Connor’s initial expectations, the ultimate sum of property tax savings in 2023 resulting from Hidalgo County property tax protests did indeed surpass the $44 million mark. This estimate was formulated through a comprehensive review of historical data on property tax savings, as documented on the Hidalgo County Property Tax Trends website in previous years.

In an update from the previous report concerning residential property owners in Hidalgo County, there have been notable developments. According to information supplied by the Hidalgo County Appraisal District, a total of 17,677 property accounts have successfully led to reduced property assessments. The adjusted median assessment reduction amounted to $26,722, resulting in a collective property tax savings of $721, based on a 2.7% tax rate, without accounting for potential homestead exemptions. This significant progress has now allowed property owners to collectively save a substantial $12.7 million through property tax challenges.

The tax appeals for apartment buildings that were won in 2023 have caused a decrease in the beginning valuation from $3 billion to $2 billion, which has led to a prosperous reduction in tax assessments of $964 million, the highest of any property type so far this tax year. Commercial apartment owners have collectively saved $26 million in total on property taxes based on a calculated tax rate of 2.7%. In conclusion, the tax challenges for apartment complexes in Hidalgo County dropped by 30.9%, saving a total of $6,604 thousand per appeal resolved. The figures above represent the results of the 3,945 apartment hearings that have taken place in 2023.

This year, commercial land and other property owners in Hidalgo County experienced a significant reduction in their property tax assessments, amounting to an impressive 26.2%. This reduction encompasses a total of 6,719 resolved tax protests that were concluded in 2023. The initial property value, originally set at $1.1 billion, has been effectively reduced to $821 million, leading to an estimated tax savings of approximately $291 million for these property owners. This reduction in assessments is calculated using a 2.7% tax rate, translating to an average savings of approximately $1,170 per tax parcel.

Based on the data available as of the end of September 2023, property owners in Hidalgo County have experienced a substantial decrease in their assessed valuations. These valuations dropped from $516 million to $344 million due to their successful appeals. Notably, hotel establishments received a collective tax assessment reduction of $172 million, which translates to a substantial savings of approximately $4.6 million in taxes for this tax year. This, in turn, resulted in an average reduction of $49,051 in property taxes for each hotel property that was affected by the appeals. Over the course of the entire year, the average reduction in hotel tax and property tax appeals is approximately 33.4%.

The owners of 785 office buildings situated in Hidalgo County have effectively resolved their tax appeals, leading to a combined savings of $2 million in property taxes as of the end of September 2023. This substantial reduction in tax assessment, totaling $74 million, was made possible by the reduction in property valuation from the initial $601 million to $527 million. On average, property owners enjoyed a tax reduction of $2,549, calculated based on a 2.7% tax rate. It’s worth noting that successful tax appeals for office properties this year resulted in a notable 12.3% decrease in the assessed amount.

At the time of writing, property owners in Hidalgo County have completed the process of challenging their property tax assessments for the year 2023. A total of 31,881 different properties have successfully had their assessments reduced, leading to a notable decrease in the overall initial assessed value, which has gone from $12.8 billion to $10 billion. On average, this represents a reduction of approximately 21.18%.

The information presented above provides significant examples of the results achievable through property tax reductions via the property tax appeal process. 96 employees of the Hidalgo County Appraisal District are responsible for assessing property values within the county. With such a weighty task falling to only a few, the most prudent advice for property owners is to thoroughly review their annual property tax assessments and consider filing an appeal each year. This is recommended due to the fact that, on average, Hidalgo County experiences a success rate of 60-80% in property tax appeals annually.