The Challenge

For years, local leaders had fielded the same question from residents: If we’re growing this much, why aren’t homeowners seeing any relief on their property tax bills?

On paper, the city’s economy looked strong. A surge in commercial development had expanded the tax base by millions. Yet despite all that new value, homeowners were still shouldering an increasing share of the property tax bill. The city turned to our team to find out why.

The Approach

We began with a deep dive into more than a decade of property tax records. Our goal was to trace not just total collections, but the composition of who paid them. Using appraisal district data, we segmented taxable value by major property classes and calculated each group’s relative share of the total tax base over time.

But identifying the “what” wasn’t enough; we needed to understand the “why.” So, we examined the appraisal methods permitted under state law and how they interacted with local market dynamics. In Texas and many other states, residential properties are required to be appraised at market value, while commercial properties can rely on income-based approaches that tend to grow more slowly. That difference, compounded over time, has a powerful and often invisible effect.

The Findings

The numbers told a clear story.

Despite a decade of commercial expansion, the share of total property taxes paid by homeowners had increased by nearly 10 percentage points. Commercial values had grown, but not as fast (or as transparently) as residential ones. As home prices climbed rapidly, the appraisal cap on homesteads slowed individual increases, but the overall share of the tax base still tilted toward residential property.

In essence, the very structure of the appraisal system, and not local policy decisions, was quietly shifting the tax burden onto homeowners.

The Impact

Armed with this analysis, the city could finally answer the question that had long frustrated both staff and residents. The findings clarified that the imbalance wasn’t a failure of budgeting or management, it was a structural consequence of how property valuation works under state law.

This new understanding didn’t just provide closure; it opened doors. The city now has data to inform future communications with residents, legislative advocacy, and long-term financial planning. What had once been a political talking point became a teachable moment grounded in fact.

The Takeaway

Growth doesn’t always guarantee relief. Sometimes the mechanics of the tax system can work against perception, and even against intention. By combining technical analysis with clear storytelling, we helped the city translate a decade of data into an insight that will shape how they explain, and eventually rebalance, their fiscal future.