Brazoria Property Tax Appeals Save $73+ Million Per Year

Thanks to its industrial riches and increasingly hot housing market, property values in Brazoria County are reaching critical levels. To counter this and other aggression from the Brazoria County Appraisal District, taxpayers across the region are launching property tax protests like never before. While commercial appeals were down a bit from 2022’s record highs, 2023 saw homeowners score a savings of $30.38 million in taxes. Appraisal review board (ARB) hearings also saw their best results ever, indicating a shift toward higher values in the future. Join O’Connor’s Property Tax Protection Program™ today and see why 185,000 clients used O’Connor for their taxes in 2024. There is never any cost to enroll, and you will only pay a contingency fee if O’Connor can reduce your taxes. Enroll, relax, and save.

Total Value Reduction, Informal HearingsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.

	Millions of $
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ Total Value Reduction	682.50	1,119.51	1,833.22	1,437.65	1,042.09	1,675.13	1,894.97	2,114.80	4,035.58	3,222.30	2,700.45
Single Family Residential Reduction	188.17	222.77	444.80	393.43	342.06	362.17	469.94	577.71	777.62	1,378.13	682.23
Commercial / Other	494.33	896.74	1,388.42	1,044.22	700.03	1,312.96	1,425.03	1,537.10	3,257.95	1,844.18	2,018.22

Texas property owners should protest annually since The value cannot be raised during the protest, based on 2019 legislation.

Brazoria County Property Tax Savings from Administrative Appeals

Acting as the industrial heart of the Houston area, Brazoria County is part of a complex web of properties. As one of the wealthier counties in Texas, the demand for homes, businesses, and industrial spaces has triggered a huge upswing in property values. This, in turn, has led to increasing taxes. While exemptions are very useful, more and more residents are turning to property tax appeals than ever before.

If you are looking for a leg up against the Brazoria County Appraisal District (Brazoria CAD), then you could always join with O’Connor. As one of the biggest and most prestigious property tax consulting firms in America, O’Connor helped 185,000 clients in 2024 and are expanding in 2026 and beyond. There is no cost to join, and your taxes will be protested every year automatically.

Brazoria CAD Informal Hearings

Every tax protest journey begins with an informal appeal. These are meetings with Brazoria CAD that attempt to resolve things before more complex measures can be attempted. These are often worth the attempt, as even if the taxpayer comes up short, they can move their protest to the next level in the chain. $3.22 billion in taxable value was reduced in 2023 thanks to informal settlements. Single family homes cut $13.78 billion, while commercial and industrial properties shed $18.44 billion in value. Informal appeals for businesses had something of a downturn in 2023, but residential protests reached a record high.

Total Value Reduction, Formal ARB HearingsSource: 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 Value Reduction	0.023	0.028	0.033	0.038	0.016	0.022	0.110	0.198	0.756	1.763	1.805
Single Family Residential Reduction	0.009	0.009	0.008	0.008	0.003	0.004	0.005	0.005	0.328	0.535	0.418
Commercial / Other	0.014	0.019	0.025	0.030	0.014	0.017	0.105	0.192	0.429	1.228	1.387

Texas property owners should protest annually since You can’t evaluate the strength of your appeal until you obtain the hearing evidence file. You have to protest to obtain the hearing evidence file (available free upon request via U.S. mail).

Brazoria CAD Formal ARB Hearings

While informal appeals for businesses may have shrunk, this was made up for by formal appeals to the appraisal review board (ARB). There was a total of $323 million in taxable value reduced thanks to formal hearings. $255 million of this was due to commercial protests, up from $224 million in 2022. ARB hearings are traditionally home to commercial appeals due to their individual value, and the various industries of Brazoria County have been pushing things to the max. A decade ago, commercial property tax appeals to the ARB only secured reductions of $14 million, showing just how far both protests and values have come. Single family homes also set a record with $68 million in value reductions. Coupled with a rapid climb, this demonstrates that homes are having to jump through more hoops to achieve a cut as well.

Tax Savings, Informal HearingsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.

	Millions of $
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ Total Value Reduction	14.33	23.51	38.50	30.19	21.88	35.18	39.79	44.41	84.75	67.67	56.71
Single Family Residential Reduction	3.95	4.68	9.34	8.26	7.18	7.61	9.87	12.13	16.33	28.94	14.33
Commercial / Other	10.38	18.83	29.16	21.93	14.70	27.57	29.93	32.28	68.42	38.73	42.38

Texas property owners should protest annually since Not appealing is used against property owners in the subsequent years since “you agreed to the value” (by not protesting).

Estimated Total Property Tax Informal Savings

Reducing taxable value is all well and good, but it takes actual drops in the tax burden to help the average business or homeowner. Though informal settlements had something of a down year in 2023, $67.66 million was still taken off the books. While this was behind the record of $84.75 million from 2022, it was still the second-highest total ever seen in Brazoria County.

Commercial savings were nearly chopped in half, going from $68.42 million in 2022 to $38.73 million in 2023. This seems mostly because businesses took things to the ARB, which indicates a tightening grip by Brazoria CAD and rising values for businesses. Single family homes were the opposite and easily set the record with $28.94 million in 2023, easily dwarfing the $16.33 million of just a year prior. Informal savings for homes have been growing for the better part of a decade and will continue to be a factor as long as home values continue to skyrocket.

Tax Savings, Formal ARB HearingsSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.

	Millions of $
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ Total Value Reduction	0.48	0.58	0.69	0.80	0.34	0.45	2.30	4.16	15.88	37.03	37.90
Single Family Residential Reduction	0.18	0.18	0.17	0.16	0.05	0.09	0.10	0.11	6.88	11.24	8.78
Commercial / Other	0.30	0.40	0.52	0.64	0.29	0.36	2.20	4.04	9.01	25.79	29.13

Tax Savings, Formal ARB Hearings

When it came to ARB savings, both commercial and residential properties had their feet firmly pressed on the gas pedal. $6.78 million in savings was the best ever seen for formal Brazoria appeals. This was spearheaded by $5.35 million in commercial savings, which was the primary reason that the overall total was higher than the $5.47 million of 2022. Home savings likewise shot to the moon, with $1.44 million saved. This was practically double the 2022 total of $78 million. .

Total Tax Savings (Informal & Formal)Source: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.

	Millions of $
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ Total Value Reduction	14.81	24.09	39.19	30.99	22.22	35.63	42.09	48.57	100.63	104.70	94.61
Single Family Residential Reduction	4.13	4.86	9.51	8.42	7.23	7.70	9.97	12.24	23.21	40.18	23.11
Commercial / Other	10.68	19.23	29.68	22.57	14.99	27.93	32.13	36.32	77.43	64.52	71.51

Total Tax Savings (Informal & Formal)

When combined, both administrative appeal types managed to bring home a savings of $74.45 million. $44.08 million came from commercial and industrial protests, while $30.38. This was the second-highest commercial total, surpassed only by 2022’s $73.11 million. Single family homes did break their own record set the year previous, pulling in an impressive $30.38 million in tax savings. While business savings were down, it is common for large properties to explore post-administrative appeals after failing in the first few rounds, which means they got another bite at the apple.