Hidalgo County Tax Protests Reduce $2.8 MM Thanks to Lawsuits

Often the finishing touch for a multi-million-dollar property, judicial appeals are a high-stakes duel against the Hidalgo County Appraisal District (HCAD). These lawsuits contested $668 million in value in 2024, spread across only a select few cases. This resulted in $2.80 million in tax savings coming back to the people of Hidalgo County. With a chance of a settlement as high as 91.25%, district court lawsuits are extremely effective if you have the right team to get you there. Enroll in O’Connor’s Property Tax Protection Program™ and get an elite legal team backed by one of the top firms in America. You will not pay a single legal fee and will only be charged if you win your lawsuit. Enroll, relax, and save.

How the Judicial Appeals Were ResolvedSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.

	Judicial Appeals
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Number of Judicial Appeals Resolved	4.00	11.00	16.00	25.00	33.00	48.00	41.00	115.00	75.00	34.00	80.00
By Agreed Judgment	4.00	8.00	16.00	24.00	32.00	38.00	39.00	95.00	61.00	27.00	73.00
By Court Judgment or Other	0	3.00	0	1.00	1.00	10.00	2.00	20.00	14.00	7.00	7.00

Texas property owners should protest annually since An annual appeal is an insurance policy to avoid major increases.

HCAD Judicial Appeal Resolutions

As judicial appeals can take years to decide, there can be a lag between filing a lawsuit and getting a result. As a lawsuit is the culmination of a disciplined and hard-fought protest process, most taxpayers are willing to wait. This patience is always rewarded, as these lawsuits against the Hidalgo County Appraisal District(HCAD) not only bring back a ton of savings, but are usually settled out of court without a legal battle taking place. Join O’Connor and let one of the largest property tax firms in America run your whole lawsuit for you. You can relax knowing that you are in the hands of a professional.

HCAD Judicial Appeal Resolution Summary

Despite their value, court lawsuits tend to be rather anticlimactic. After hours of gathering evidence, putting together the perfect legal squad, and getting prepared for the courtroom, things typically end in a whimper. Usually, HCAD simply caves and is reduced to giving a settlement in favor of the taxpayer. Of the 80 lawsuits resolved in 2024, 73 ended in an out-of-court settlement in favor of the taxpayer. That is a 91.25% chance of a plaintiff simply being handed a victory. HCAD is a bit more diligent, as the Texas average settlement rate is around 93.72%. This means that the decks are stacked in favor of the taxpayer for once.

Appraised Value (ARB) of Resolved Judicial AppealsSource: 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
Appraised Value (ARB)	0.04	0.17	0.11	0.27	0.34	0.29	0.37	0.46	0.43	0.40	0.38

Texas property owners should protest annually since To maintain their rights to appeal to or through the judicial appeal process. Owners must exhaust administrative options to pursue binding arbitration or a judicial appeal

Appraised Value of Resolved Judicial Appeals

Thanks to the cost and effort it takes to pull off litigation, only the most expensive properties are practical to bring a lawsuit against HCAD. This means that even a small docket of lawsuits could have millions or even billions of dollars of value on the line. Despite the reputation for being a working-class area, Hidalgo County saw a huge chunk of value decided in 2024. $380 million in value was contested in the courts, packing a lot of money into just a few cases. 2024 was down a tad from 2022 and 2023, which saw $430 million and $400million appealed respectively.

Value Reduction from Judicial AppealsSource: 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 Reduction from Judicial Appeals	0.04	0.06	0.03	0.05	0.03	0.07	0.09	0.11	0.14	0.26	0.13
Single Family	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Multi-Family	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.01	0
Commercial	0.04	0.05	0.02	0.04	0.02	0.06	0.09	0.11	0.13	0.25	0.13
All Other	0	0	0	0	0.01	0.01	0	0	0	0	0

Texas property owners should protest annually since It is a responsibility of ownership. Large commercial owners generally appeal annually and obtain a reduction. Why should homeowners be excluded?

Taxpayer Value Reduction from Judicial Appeals

Litigation offered an excellent return on investment in 2024, as they were able to reduce taxable value by $130 million. This was half what lawsuits were able to reclaim in 2023, but there were many fewer cases. $130 million of the returned value was thanks to Commercial properties, which is to be expected.

Tax Savings From Judicial AppealsSource: 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 Tax Reduction	0.91	1.26	0.56	1.01	0.64	1.42	1.85	2.38	2.90	5.46	2.80
Single Family	0	0	0	0.02	0	0	0	0.03	0.05	0.10	0.04
Multi-Family	0	0.07	0	0.05	0	0	0.03	0.06	0.08	0.11	0.06
Commercial	0.89	1.14	0.51	0.94	0.49	1.23	1.82	2.28	2.75	5.23	2.66
All Other	0.02	0.05	0.04	0.01	0.15	0.19	0	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.05

Texas property owners should protest annually since The appraisal district uses inaccurate data, factors and an inaccurate model to estimate values. Half are too high and half too low; very few are just right. Even if you are under-valued on market value, you can appeal on unequal appraisal.

Hidalgo Property Tax Reduction from Judicial Appeals

When the value was processed and litigated down to a fair value, taxpayers managed to get some quality tax relief. A total of $2.80 million was returned to the pockets of plaintiffs in 2024. This was again half of what was achieved in 2023, but there were fewer suits filed. To show how much these lawsuits have impacted Hidalgo County in recent years, this is still 207.69% higher than what lawsuits returned in 2014.

Commercial properties logically took home the majority of reduced taxes, to the tune of $2.66 million. It is businesses that have driven the rise of judicial appeals in recent years, and was a huge block of savings in a down year. Multi family homes also got a healthy return, with $60,000 in reduced taxes. Even though they were a small fraction, single family homes landed a break of $40,000.