Denton Property Tax Appeals Save $317+ Million Per Year

Administrative appeals found new effectiveness in 2024, bringing home $317 million for taxpayers. Though the majority of savings were achieved through formal appeals, informal protests were key to taking the fight to the Denton Central Appraisal District (DCAD). With $64 million in informal savings and $226.44 million in formal ones, taxpayers practiced their constitutional rights to protest taxes like never before. Maximize your own administrative appeal when you enroll in O’Conner’s Property Tax Protection Program™. There are no sneaky fees or upfront costs to file your protest, and you will only pay if you lower 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	2,697.21	1,425.20	776.37	127.53	116.53	622.88	1,129.23	2,037.73	4,242.11	4,782.91	3,047.99
Single Family Residential Reduction	463.58	287.26	191.86	96.46	97.67	216.99	336.31	549.98	927.87	1,052.24	716.60
Commercial / Other	2,233.63	1,137.94	584.51	31.07	18.87	405.90	792.93	1,487.74	3,314.24	3,730.67	2,331.39

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

Denton County Property Tax Savings from Administrative Appeals

As one of the premier destinations in Texas for both lifestyle and work, Denton County is getting more expensive by the year. Property taxes are rising with all the other costs, and with how stretched thin the Denton Central Appraisal District (DCAD) is, there is no way of knowing if taxpayers are paying too much or not. That is why administrative property tax appeals are so important, because they let the people of Denton dispute overzealous or inaccurate taxation.

O’Connor is here to lead you every step of the way in your journey to pay your fair share of property taxes. Based in Texas, O’Connor is one of the biggest firms in the United States dedicated exclusively to property tax consulting. Whether you want help with an informal or formal appeal, O’Connor has the right solutions to your every tax protest need.

Denton CAD Informal Hearings

Informal hearings are used as the first part of a property tax protest. These are free appeals to DCAD to try and get a more accurate evaluation of the value of a property. If there is no settlement, or the one offered is not up to snuff, then a taxpayer can move on to formal proceedings. Informal appeals in 2024 produced a total of $3.05 billion in value reductions for Denton County. This was a significant drop from $4.78 billion in 2023, which was the record for the county. $716.60 million was saved for singe family homes, while $2.33 billion was saved for commercial, industrial, and related properties.

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	0.944	1.170	1.422	3.039	3.622	4.003	4.084	6.703	11.661	16.027	10.783
Single Family Residential Reduction	0.027	0.031	0.054	0.047	0.075	0.080	0.087	0.470	0.695	1.679	0.050
Commercial / Other	0.917	1.139	1.368	2.992	3.547	3.923	3.997	6.233	10.967	14.348	10.733

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).

Denton CAD Formal ARB Hearings

Taxpayers in Denton County see most of their tax savings at the formal level of protests. These appeals are held after the informal level and appear before the appraisal review board (ARB). Like many high-end communities, Denton County’s focus on formal appeals is due to how much is on the line for every property. ARB hearings reduced a total valuation of $10.78 billion in 2024. $50 million was for single family homes, while business owners netted $10.73 billion. ARB appeals have soared in popularity in the past decade, with 1597.77% more savings in 2023 compared to 2014.

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	56.64	29.93	16.30	2.68	2.45	13.08	23.71	42.79	89.08	100.44	64.01
Single Family Residential Reduction	9.74	6.03	4.03	2.03	2.05	4.56	7.06	11.55	19.49	22.10	15.05
Commercial / Other	46.91	23.90	12.27	0.65	0.40	8.52	16.65	31.24	69.60	78.34	48.96

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

While Denton County focuses heavily on ARB hearings, informal appeals are still important for many reasons. First, a taxpayer must go through an informal appeal to get further up the ladder. Second, informal settlements can bring a bounty back to those that can get them. The best thing about informal appeals is that they are free to explore, and the value can only be lowered, never raised.

$64 million in taxes were returned in 2024 thanks to informal appeals. $15.05 million was for single family homes, the most ever recorded. Commercial properties did even better, recouping $48.96 million in property taxes. These numbers may pale in comparison to those reaped by formal means but are still impressive in their own right and represent significant savings for relatively little effort.

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	19.82	24.57	29.85	63.82	76.06	84.07	85.75	140.77	244.88	336.56	226.44
Single Family Residential Reduction	0.56	0.65	1.13	1.00	1.57	1.68	1.82	9.88	14.59	35.25	1.05
Commercial / Other	19.26	23.92	28.72	62.83	74.49	82.39	83.94	130.89	230.30	301.31	225.39

Tax Savings, Formal ARB Hearings

ARB hearings are the heart of Denton County protests, and they have the returns to prove it. $432.72 million was returned in total for 2023, 235.08% more than that provided by informal appeals. 2024 was a step down, with $226.44 million being cut from the rolls. $1.05 million was for single family homes, the lowest since 2017. Homes have increasingly become a bigger part of formal appeals in the past decade, especially in the last few years. Commercial properties scored even bigger with $225.39 million in savings, though this was a large drop from the 2023 high point as well.

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	76.46	54.50	46.15	66.50	78.51	97.15	109.46	183.56	333.96	437.00	290.45
Single Family Residential Reduction	10.30	6.68	5.16	3.03	3.62	6.24	8.88	21.43	34.08	57.35	16.10
Commercial / Other	66.17	47.82	40.99	63.48	74.89	90.91	100.59	162.13	299.90	379.65	274.35

Total Tax Savings

The people of Denton County are learning their rights and taking back their taxes from DCAD in record numbers. $290.45 million in combined formal and informal savings came back to taxpayers in 2024. This is a huge improvement over the total of 93.30 a decade ago. While the rise in property taxes is certainly the catalyst for this explosive growth, awareness of property tax appeals is also growing. As Denton becomes even more valuable and exclusive in the coming years, even more residents are bound to protest these unfair and exploitative taxes.