Commercial property tax protests — built on real comps, not boilerplate.

The commercial protest problem

County Appraisal Districts (“CADs”) value tens of thousands of commercial parcels each year using mass-appraisal models. Those models are tuned for residential volume and the simpler comparable sales available there. Commercial properties — multi-tenant office, owner-occupied office, retail strip, anchored retail, mixed-use, light industrial, warehouse, self-storage, hospitality — need different comp pools and different unit-of-comparison adjustments. Generic mass-appraisal tends to over-assess.

Most owners walk away. They look at the cost of hiring a consultant to build a defensible comp packet, weigh it against the uncertain payoff, and skip the protest. Multiply that across a portfolio and an owner can leave six figures of annual tax savings on the table.

We exist so the comp packet is no longer the bottleneck.

What we do differently

• Real comps, pulled at scale from the CAD itself.
  We index every commercial parcel in your appraisal district — multi-tenant retail, owner-occupied office, industrial, warehouse, mixed-use. Comparable buildings are ranked by use code, age, NRA, year built, sub-market, and adjusted assessed-value-per-square-foot. The packet that lands in the appraiser's inbox is a CAD-record comp set, not a marketing PDF.
• Equal & Uniform analysis under Tex. Tax Code § 41.41(a)(2).
  Equal & Uniform is the most powerful and least-used commercial protest ground in Texas. Under § 41.41(a)(2), a property is unequally appraised if its assessed value exceeds the median assessed-value-per-square-foot of a reasonable number of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted. We compute that median for your tier and your sub-market. If your assessment sits 10%+ above the median, you have a strong record-supported case before we ever argue market value.
• Building-by-building negotiation, not one-off intake.
  CADs assign appraisers by sub-market and property type. We know who handles your portfolio. We file early, negotiate at the informal review under Tex. Tax Code § 41.45, and behave like a senior consultant relationship the appraiser will see again next year — not a one-off claim shop that disappears after the deadline.
• Contingency-only. 25% of estimated annual tax savings.
  No upfront fee, no retainer, no per-property subscription. We invoice only after the CAD issues a final order lowering your assessed value. If the protest does not produce a reduction, you owe nothing. Same flat 25% rate as residential — commercial is not surcharged.

Property types we handle

We accept Texas commercial protests across the property types where CAD-record comps and an Equal & Uniform analysis carry the most leverage:

Property types we don't take (for now)

For each of these we will refer you out rather than under-perform. Coverage may expand as we add specialty counsel and per-type methodology:

• Heavy industrial — steel mills, refineries, petrochemical plants.
  These rely on a cost-approach methodology, often with unit-value studies and complex obsolescence adjustments. Different statute interpretation, different expert witness profile, different fee model. Not a fit for our contingency book today.
• Agriculture, timber, and open-space land.
  Open-space valuation is governed by Tex. Tax Code § 23.51 et seq., not § 41.41(a)(2) comp methodology. Specialty practice; we refer.
• Special districts — TIF, TIRZ, MUD, PID.
  Special-district overlays create interaction effects with assessed value, exemptions, and bond rates that we want counsel to review before we accept the engagement. Hold-list pending.

Estimated savings ranges by property type

Reductions are estimated annual tax savings on a single-year protest. The reduction percentage is applied to assessed value; the dollar figure assumes a combined jurisdictional rate around 2.2–2.6% (varies by county and ISD). Actual outcome depends on the CAD’s final Order Determining Protest and is never guaranteed.

ILLUSTRATIVE. Ranges above are pre-cohort estimates published for scope and budgeting only. They will be refit against the realised distribution of outcomes after the 2027 protest cycle (“Cohort 2027”) and re-published. Past results do not predict future outcomes.

Statutory leverage

Equal & Uniform is the commercial owner’s strongest ground.

Tex. Tax Code § 41.41(a)(2) gives every Texas property owner the right to protest an assessment that is unequal compared with other properties. The standard, refined by § 42.26(a)(3), is the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted. If your commercial parcel sits above that median, the CAD must equalize it. The work that decides the outcome is the comp set.

We designate as your authorized agent under Tex. Tax Code § 1.111, file the Notice of Protest (Form 50-132) before the § 41.44 deadline, and appear at the informal review and (if needed) the Appraisal Review Board hearing under Tex. Tax Code Ch. 41 on your behalf.