KeepTheCut

October 2026 · tax bill season

October tax bill just landed. The May protest window did not reopen.

Texas property-tax bills mail around October. If the number stung, KeepTheCut sells a $99/year DIY packet: an overpay report from the latest CAD values on the roll, reused as your 2027 protest packet when notices mail around April. You file. We do not represent you, negotiate, attend, or file for you.

Get my packet — $99/yearDeeper overpay-report copy

Bill shock, not a do-over

The envelope is a tax bill. It is not a new protest deadline.

The typical Texas protest deadline (May 15, or 30 days after the Notice of Appraised Value) has passed for most counties. Paying the October bill does not unlock a late protest. This packet does not reopen May. It shows a conservative picture of over-assessment from public CAD records and becomes the packet we reuse when 2027 notices drop.

KeepTheCut is not a registered property-tax consultant under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1152. We do not file protests, attend hearings, take a power of attorney, advise on a specific account, represent anyone, or guarantee a reduction. County appraisal districts set the values. The owner files.

$99/year · two uses

One checkout. An overpay report now. A 2027 packet later.

If you are holding the bill

2026 overpay report

Same template from the latest public CAD values already on the roll. Framed as what the roll suggests you overpaid — not a promised refund and not a number we invent. It does not change this year’s bill by itself.

Primary path

2027 protest packet

Buy now. We assemble the evidence packet when 2027 notices mail (around April) and email you when your county notice is out. That is the next window most owners actually file.

Get my packet — $99/year

Launch counties

October bills are collected by the county tax office. You still protest with the CAD. Start on your county page if you know it.

Other Texas counties: join the waitlist. We do not invent a CAD scrape for counties we have not launched.

Related pages

Looking up “Texas property tax bill” instead of October? Start at /tax-bill. Want the longer overpay-report writeup? /bill-shock.

The math

Agents bill a cut of the save. We bill a document.

About 3.00 million Texas protests were filed in 2024 (3,004,940), from Comptroller figures compiled by O’Connor.[1] The market is real. The fee structure is the fight. These are other companies’ published figures, not KeepTheCut results.

Ownwell (their figures)

25%

of first-year savings in Texas, per Ownwell’s own cost-breakdown writing.[2] They market ~$774 average annual savings[3] and other Ownwell pages cite ~$606 median.[4]

25% of $606 is about $152 — more than $99.

O’Connor (their terms)

~50%

of first-year savings. O’Connor’s site: pay half of first-year property tax savings; they file and attend the hearing.[5]

Half of $606 is about $303.

KeepTheCut

$99/year

per property. You file. You keep 100% of any savings. SquareDeal DIY comps are $69[6] — we charge more because the packet includes the filing worksheet, county portal steps, and deadline-reminder workflow.

SquareDeal has published Harris County figures claiming a 2025 DIY median assessed-value reduction of $20,640 versus $13,202 for agent-represented protests. That is their claim from their dataset, not a KeepTheCut finding, and it is not a prediction for your house.[7] Longer comparisons: Ownwell alternative · O’Connor alternative · SquareDeal alternative.

Sources

We cite other companies’ published figures. We do not adopt them as our results.

  1. 1.About 3.00 million Texas property-tax protests filed in 2024 (3,004,940), from Texas Comptroller data compiled by O’Connor. Source
  2. 2.Ownwell markets a 25% contingency on first-year savings in Texas (rate can vary by region on Ownwell’s pricing materials). Source
  3. 3.Ownwell homepage markets “$774 avg annual savings” among its advertised customer results (not a prediction for your home). Source
  4. 4.Ownwell’s Texas protest guide cites an approximate $606 median annual savings for a typical successful protest in major metro counties. Source
  5. 5.O’Connor & Associates states clients pay half of first-year property-tax savings (about 50%). Source
  6. 6.SquareDeal DIY comps reports are priced at $69, with a money-back policy if there is no reduction (SquareDeal’s terms, not ours). Source
  7. 7.SquareDeal’s Harris County analysis claims a 2025 DIY median assessed-value reduction of $20,640 vs $13,202 for agent-represented protests. That is SquareDeal’s claim from their dataset, not a KeepTheCut finding. Source
  8. 8.Texas Comptroller: how to protest, Form 50-132, and typical May 15 / 30-days-after-notice deadline. Source
  9. 9.Texas Tax Code §41.47: the ARB generally may not set a protested appraised value higher than the value in the appraisal records submitted by the chief appraiser, unless the owner requests and agrees. Exceptions exist for certain exemption and special-appraisal disputes. Source
  10. 10.Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1152 regulates property-tax consultants. KeepTheCut is not a registered property-tax consultant and does not represent owners. Source