About

What this is

A static map of every residential single-family parcel in Harris County, TX. Each pin is colored by how the parcel's 2026 HCAD appraisal compares, on a per-square-foot basis, to the median of its 5 closest comparable neighbors under Tex. Tax Code §41.43(b)(3). Click any pin to open a personalized appeal report with comps, fair-value math, a hearing script, and filing steps.

It's designed to answer one question fast: is my appraisal high enough to be worth protesting? Everything else — the stats page, the playbook, this About page — is in service of that.

What this isn't

• It's not legal advice. If your situation is unusual, talk to a property tax lawyer or a CPA.
• It's not a guarantee. The tool is an indicator; every ARB panel weighs comps slightly differently.
• It's not affiliated with HCAD (the Harris Central Appraisal District) or any tax-protest firm.
• It doesn't file your protest for you, and the report itself isn't evidence. You still log in to HCAD's iFile portal — this site helps you identify your comps and understand the math so you can build your own evidence packet from HCAD's records.

Data sources

• HCAD 2026 property tables — real_acct.txt, building_res.txt, jur_value.txt, jur_exempt.txt from hcad.org/pdata. These are the same source files HCAD uses internally; the tool reads them as-is.
• HCAD 2026 parcel shapefile — from hcad.org/pdata-gis-downloads. Used to place each pin and compute distances between comp candidates.
• HCAD ARB protest + hearings files — 2023–2026 from HCAD's ARB data release. Powers the Appeals & History page's win-rate and filer breakdown.
• Base map tiles — CartoDB Positron, served via their free tier.

Parcel data refreshes when HCAD publishes a new certified roll (typically April each year). Hearings data refreshes weekly during the ARB cycle (roughly May through October). Last refresh: —.

Methodology

For each parcel, the tool picks 5 comparable homes from the HCAD roll: same neighborhood code, same grade, within ±15% of square footage, within ±10 years of build year, closest by geographic distance. It computes the median $/sqft of those 5, multiplies by the subject's square footage to get an implied fair value, and colors the pin by how far the HCAD appraisal sits above or below that fair value.

Per-sqft is how HCAD's own mass-appraisal model is built and what the Texas Comptroller's Property Value Study audits for uniformity, which is why it's the right yardstick for a §41.43(b)(3) claim. Full technical write-up, including the bucket thresholds, spread-badge math, and §23.23 homestead-cap detection, lives in the parent project's CLAUDE.md.

Note that the comparison is relative: each parcel is measured against the median of similar HCAD-appraised neighbors, not absolute market value. That's the test the §41.43(b)(3) statute applies, but it means the tool cannot detect district-wide over- or under-appraisal — if all your neighbors are appraised low, your “fair” value will look low too.

Privacy

The site collects no cookies, runs no tracking scripts, and has no user accounts. Aggregate traffic counts come from Cloudflare Web Analytics, which is privacy-preserving and needs no browser-side JavaScript.

All parcel data displayed here — owner names, addresses, appraised values, prior-year values, year built, square footage — is public record at hcad.org, searchable by address or owner name with no account needed. This site presents the same data in map form.

Open source

The methodology and pipeline architecture are open in the parent project, github.com/sbezner/JVAppeals2026; this Harris County build is in active migration on the same foundation. Issues, methodology questions, and corrections welcome via the contact below.

Built with help from an AI coding assistant (Anthropic's Claude); every claim was verified against HCAD's own systems before publishing.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a comp that doesn't look right — write to hello@harristaxappeals.com. One person reads that inbox; don't expect instant replies, but everything gets read.