Ownwell Secures $12K Tax Cut on Texas Industrial Property

Client

Born and raised in San Antonio, Todd Ellis runs accounting for his family business. Started by his grandfather, the family has been in the power transmission business since the 1960s. Texas locals through and through, they have locations in San Antonio, Austin, Laredo, and Victoria. They’re a third-generation business and still going strong!

As an Ownwell client since 2023, we manage 10 of Ellis' properties, including retail, industrial, office, and residential.

Challenge

In 2023, Travis County valued an industrial property at over $600,000, but that rose to $1,055,888 in 2024, reflecting a +76.0% increase in valuation—significantly increasing the tax bill.

Solution

Using Ownwell’s algorithm and combining our local experts’ knowledge of the CAD’s assessment methodology, Ownwell argued that the CAD's use of a "highway core" market area is illegitimate because it takes sales from too broad of an area. 

We also argued that within that area, there was not a sufficient sample of sales to justify an increase in land. We discounted the CAD’s evidence as the property tax code states that the burden of proof is on the CAD to establish the value.

Results

We reduced the assessment value from $1,055,888 million back to $604,383, a 74% reduction from the 76% increase in the original notice of value. This prevented Mr. Ellis from being surprised by a large tax bill. 

In addition, we qualified the property for the circuit breaker passed in recent legislation, which will provide Mr. Ellis stability when forecasting his property’s taxable value YoY, which we can help him forecast going forward.