Hearst Expands TX Tax Tool Statewide in Texas

As homeowners across Texas contend with high property taxes, Hearst Newspapers is launching a property tax protest tool, called TX Tax, in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas.

The April 16 launch represents the statewide expansion of a property tax protest guide produced last year by the Houston Chronicle, which offered a set of tools for Harris County homeowners looking to challenge their property appraisals. The tool was nominated for Best Innovation by the International News Media Association and found a receptive audience among homeowners.

"Like all businesses, the way we fund our journalism business constantly changes. We are proud to bring the greater Austin community a deeply documented product, rooted in publicly available data that helps consumers improve their life," said Mark Medici, publisher and CEO of the Austin American-Statesman. "A well-informed community is core to our mission. We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to achieve this goal."

Although Texas is considered a low-tax state, it has one of the highest effective property tax rates in the United States, according to the Tax Foundation. There is no state income tax in Texas, so the state relies heavily on sales taxes and property taxes to fund basic services.

In addition, Texas' biggest cities have seen home values shoot up over the past 10 years, and many rapidly growing communities have raised property taxes to fund new or expanded services. These dynamics have sent property tax appraisals soaring, particularly in the state's major metro areas.

A successful protest of a property tax appraisal lowers a homeowner's property tax burden, but the protest process can be difficult to navigate.

TX Tax uses data from county appraisal districts and information about comparable properties to help homeowners understand their property tax appraisals and customize arguments for challenges they might file, with a script-builder powered by generative AI. The tool can be used in Travis, Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Hearst Newspapers is a division of The Hearst Corp., a privately held media and information company headquartered in New York. Hearst newspapers include the San Antonio Express-News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman and Dallas Morning News.

TX Tax will be a standalone subscription product, with a discounted rate available to current subscribers of the four Texas papers.