If you believe your latest property appraisal may have come in too high, the deadline to protest it is this week. May 15th is the deadline to file a protest in Harris County to potentially save yourself money down the line.

More than one million notices have already been mailed out to residents. The benefits of filing too could be big, especially long-term.

Ownwell founder and CEO Colton Pace says if you are looking into doing so, do your research before filing the protest.

"Look at other homes around you, what their tax assessments are...look at if other homes have recently sold around you, that could indicate you should take advantage of the protest process," he says.

If you do not file the protest, you could be setting yourself back quite a bit. In 2024, 69 percent of Harris Couty homeowners did not protest their property taxes. The gross market value of those homes was $265 billion. If they had protested, they could have saved a whopping $248 million combined on their tax bills.

There is no downside to doing so, either.

"The majority of people not protesting are paying more than they likely should, and the people who do protest, have a significantly lower tax burden over time," says Pace.

There is no risk to it, and the success rate is actually quite high. Of those who protested in 2024, 85 percent won their case. For those who won, the average three-year property deduction was around 7.2 percent.

So, worrying about losing is not worth it. If you do not win the protest, you have not lost anything. But just not doing it means you could lose more.

"The key piece is property taxes have to be equitable," Pace says. "Because other people are fighting, you should too. If you do not fight, you are getting left behind and slowly paying more property tax burden over time."

In a recent survey, over 70 percent of Texas homeowners said their property tax burden exceeded their means. But there is a way to fight it. Protest the appraisal by May 15th and take a chance at lessening the burden.

Pace adds if you do not do this by the deadline, you have to wait a whole year to file again.

Houston's Morning News with Jimmy Barrett