Andrews County Commercial Property Tax Protest

If you own commercial property in Andrews County, there is a strong chance your appraisal district valuation does not reflect what your property would actually sell for on the open market. Andrews County sits in the heart of the Permian Basin, where commercial property values swing with oil and gas cycles in ways that mass appraisal methods routinely fail to capture. Understanding how Andrews County stacks up against its West Texas neighbors — and where the appraisal district’s methodology creates overassessment — is the first step toward reducing your tax burden.

How Andrews County Commercial Property Taxes Compare to Neighboring Permian Basin Counties

Andrews County does not exist in a vacuum. It shares economic drivers, workforce patterns, and commercial property profiles with several neighboring counties, and comparing tax treatment across those boundaries reveals patterns that property owners can use to build a compelling protest case.

Ector County to the south — anchored by Odessa — carries total tax rates for commercial properties that typically range from 2.2% to 2.9% depending on the taxing jurisdiction. Midland County, also adjacent, sees rates between 2.1% and 2.8%. Gaines County to the west trends lower, generally falling between 1.8% and 2.4%, reflecting its smaller population base and fewer special taxing districts. Andrews County commercial property tax rates typically land between 1.9% and 2.6%, placing it in the middle of its Permian Basin neighbors.

But the rate itself is only half the equation. The more consequential variable is what the Andrews County Appraisal District assigns as your property’s market value. A commercial property appraised at $1.2 million in Andrews County might have a comparable property appraised at $950,000 across the county line in Gaines County. When you multiply that valuation gap by the tax rate, the annual overpayment adds up fast. Property owners who pull comparable sales data from neighboring counties often find powerful evidence for their protest.

This cross-county comparison approach is one of the most effective tools in a tax protest, particularly in the Permian Basin where economic conditions are essentially identical across county borders but appraisal practices can vary significantly from one CAD to the next.

Andrews County Tax Rates and Taxing Jurisdiction Breakdown

Commercial property owners in Andrews County pay taxes to multiple overlapping jurisdictions, and the combined rate depends on exactly where your property sits. The major taxing entities include Andrews County itself, the City of Andrews (for properties within city limits), Andrews Independent School District, Permian Basin Underground Water Conservation District, and potentially other special districts.

The county tax rate generally falls in the range of $0.35 to $0.50 per $100 of assessed value. The City of Andrews adds another $0.55 to $0.75 per $100. Andrews ISD typically levies the largest single component, ranging from $0.90 to $1.15 per $100. When you stack all jurisdictions together, commercial property owners inside city limits can face combined rates of $1.90 to $2.60 per $100 of assessed value.

For a commercial property appraised at $800,000, that translates to an annual tax bill somewhere between $15,200 and $20,800 depending on the applicable jurisdictions. A 15% reduction in appraised value — which is well within the range of typical successful protests in the Permian Basin — would save between $2,280 and $3,120 per year. Over a five-year hold period, that is $11,400 to $15,600 in cumulative savings from a single protest filing.

Understanding which jurisdictions apply to your property is essential for calculating the true impact of an appraisal reduction and for prioritizing your protest efforts accordingly.

Three Appraisal Methods and Where Each One Breaks Down in Andrews County

The Andrews County Appraisal District uses mass appraisal techniques required under Texas Property Tax Code §23.01, which mandates that all property be appraised at market value as of January 1 each year. For commercial property, the appraisal district may use three approaches: the sales comparison approach, the income approach, and the cost approach. The problems with each method are amplified in a county like Andrews.

The sales comparison approach relies on recent comparable sales. In Andrews County, commercial property transactions are relatively infrequent compared to metro areas like Dallas or Houston. With a limited pool of sales data, the appraisal district often reaches for comparables that are not truly comparable — pulling sales from properties of different size, condition, age, or use type. A convenience store sale should not drive the valuation of an oilfield services yard, but in thin markets, that kind of stretching happens regularly.

The income approach, which values property based on the income it generates, requires accurate assumptions about market rents, vacancy rates, and capitalization rates. In the Permian Basin, these figures fluctuate dramatically with oil prices. A property leased at peak-cycle rates in 2023 may see significantly lower rental demand in a downturn, but the appraisal district’s income models often lag behind actual market conditions by one to two years.

The cost approach — estimating what it would cost to replace the property minus depreciation — tends to overvalue older commercial buildings because appraisal districts frequently understate functional and economic obsolescence. A 30-year-old metal shop building in Andrews may have significant physical deterioration and functional limitations that the cost approach simply does not account for adequately.

Each of these methodology gaps creates opportunities for a well-prepared protest. The key is knowing which approach the appraisal district used for your property and building your counter-evidence accordingly.

Oilfield Yards, Motels, and Retail: Which Andrews County Properties Pay Too Much

Andrews County’s commercial property landscape is heavily influenced by the oil and gas industry, and certain property types are consistently more prone to overassessment than others.

Oilfield service yards and equipment storage facilities make up a significant portion of Andrews County’s commercial property base. These properties often sit on large tracts of land with relatively modest improvements — metal buildings, concrete pads, pipe racks, and fenced storage areas. Appraisal districts tend to overvalue the land component based on peak-demand pricing and understate depreciation on the improvements, leading to inflated valuations that do not reflect what a buyer would actually pay for these properties.

Retail and restaurant properties in and around the City of Andrews face a different challenge. These properties are directly impacted by population fluctuations tied to the energy sector. When drilling activity slows, so does foot traffic, lease rates decline, and vacancies rise. But appraisal values often remain sticky, reflecting conditions from the prior boom rather than current market reality.

Motels and hotels in Andrews County experienced massive demand surges during drilling booms, with some properties commanding rates two or three times the statewide average. When activity normalizes, occupancy and room rates drop sharply, but appraised values may not adjust accordingly. The income approach should reflect current revenue — if it does not, that is grounds for a protest.

Office buildings leased to energy companies or oilfield service firms face similar cyclical exposure. Lease rates for commercial office space in Andrews County correlate strongly with Permian Basin drilling permits. When permits decline, so does demand for office space, but appraised values often remain anchored to prior-year lease data.

Agricultural commercial properties — including feed stores, equipment dealerships, and livestock auction facilities — round out the commercial property base. These properties often serve a market area that extends well beyond Andrews County, and their valuations should reflect the broader rural West Texas economy rather than localized conditions.

If your property falls into any of these categories, there is a high probability that a thorough analysis of comparable sales, income data, or replacement cost will reveal an overassessment worth protesting.

The Andrews County Protest Process: Filing Through the Appraisal Review Board

Filing a property tax protest in Andrews County follows the same framework established by the Texas Property Tax Code, but understanding the local nuances makes a significant difference in outcomes.

Step 1: Receive your appraisal notice. The Andrews County Appraisal District mails notices of appraised value in April or early May. Review the notice carefully, paying attention to the appraised value, the legal description, and the property characteristics listed. Errors in square footage, year built, or property classification are more common than most owners realize and can immediately support a protest.

Step 2: File your protest by May 15. Under Texas Tax Code §41.44, property owners must file a written notice of protest by May 15 or within 30 days of receiving their appraisal notice, whichever is later. You can file online if the Andrews County Appraisal District offers electronic filing, by mail, or in person. Do not miss this deadline — once it passes, your options for the current tax year narrow dramatically. If you have already missed a deadline in a prior year, you may want to read about what happens when you miss your protest deadline.

Step 3: Prepare your evidence. This is where most property owners either succeed or fail. Strong evidence includes recent sales of comparable commercial properties (especially from neighboring counties like Ector, Gaines, or Midland), current income and expense data for income-producing properties, independent appraisals or broker opinions of value, and photographs documenting physical condition issues that affect value.

Step 4: Attend the informal hearing. Before your case goes to the Appraisal Review Board, the Andrews County Appraisal District will typically schedule an informal hearing where you meet with an appraiser to discuss your evidence. Many protests are resolved at this stage. Come prepared with organized evidence and a clear argument for why the appraised value exceeds market value.

Step 5: Present to the Appraisal Review Board. If the informal hearing does not result in a satisfactory reduction, your case proceeds to the ARB. Under Tax Code §41.41, you have the right to appear before the ARB, present evidence, and challenge the appraisal district’s valuation. The ARB is an independent panel that weighs both sides’ evidence and issues a binding determination.

For a detailed walkthrough of this entire process, see our guide on how to protest your commercial property tax in Texas.

Permian Basin Economic Factors That Impact Andrews County Property Values

You cannot understand Andrews County commercial property values without understanding the Permian Basin economy. Andrews County sits directly over one of the most productive oil-producing formations in the world, and virtually every aspect of the local commercial real estate market ties back to energy sector activity.

When drilling rig counts are high, demand for commercial space — from office buildings to welding shops to truck yards — surges. Lease rates spike, vacancy drops to near zero, and property values climb rapidly. When rig counts decline, the opposite happens with equal speed. The appraisal district’s challenge is capturing a single-point-in-time snapshot of value (January 1) in a market that can shift 20% in either direction over the course of a year.

This volatility creates systematic overassessment risk. If the January 1 valuation date catches the market at or near a cyclical peak, the appraised value may already be stale by the time you receive your notice in April or May. Property owners who track rig count data, lease rate trends, and commercial vacancy rates in the Andrews area can build compelling protests grounded in real market movement rather than static appraisal models.

Additionally, Andrews County’s relatively small population — approximately 18,000 to 20,000 residents — means that the commercial property tax base is concentrated among fewer owners. Each individual property carries a proportionally larger share of the tax burden, making accurate appraisals even more consequential for owners than in larger metro counties where the burden is distributed across thousands of commercial parcels.

Our Contingency-Based Protest Service for Andrews County

At LowerMyCommercialTax.com, we handle the entire protest process for Andrews County commercial property owners on a contingency basis. Our approach is straightforward: if we do not reduce your appraised value, you pay nothing. If we do achieve a reduction, our fee is 30% of the first-year tax savings.

Here is exactly how the process works:

1. Property Analysis. We review your Andrews County Appraisal District valuation, pull comparable sales from Andrews and neighboring Permian Basin counties, analyze income and expense data if applicable, and identify every angle for a reduction.

2. Evidence Compilation. We build a professional evidence package tailored to Andrews County — including cross-county comparisons, market trend data, and property-specific factors that support a lower valuation.

3. Protest Filing. We file your protest with the Andrews County Appraisal District before the May 15 deadline, ensuring all procedural requirements are met.

4. Hearing Representation. We attend the informal hearing and, if necessary, the Appraisal Review Board hearing on your behalf. You do not need to take time away from running your business to sit in a hearing room.

5. Results and Savings. If we achieve a reduction, you save on taxes across every taxing jurisdiction that applies to your property. Our fee is calculated based only on the first-year savings — the ongoing benefit in subsequent years is entirely yours.

Whether you own an oilfield service facility, a retail strip center, a motel, or office space in Andrews County, our team has the Permian Basin market knowledge and the appraisal district experience to fight for a fair valuation. We have worked with property owners across West Texas and understand the specific challenges that make Permian Basin commercial properties particularly prone to overassessment.

If your Andrews County commercial property tax bill feels too high, it probably is. The question is not whether to protest — it is whether you want to handle it yourself or let professionals maximize your reduction while you focus on your business.

For property owners in neighboring counties facing similar challenges, we also serve Archer County, Armstrong County, and commercial property owners throughout all 254 Texas counties.

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About the Author

Mike VanVickle is the founder of LowerMyCommercialTax.com, helping Texas commercial property owners reduce their tax burden through professional protest representation. With deep expertise in Texas property tax law and appraisal district processes, Mike and his team have helped property owners across all 254 Texas counties achieve meaningful reductions on a contingency basis — no savings, no fee.

Sources & References

• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — Property Tax System Basics
• Texas Property Tax Code, Title 1, Subtitle D — Tax Code §41.41
• Texas Property Tax Code — Tax Code §23.01 - Appraisals Generally
• Andrews County Appraisal District — Local appraisal records and property data
• Texas Railroad Commission — Permian Basin Drilling Permit Data

This guide was last reviewed and updated on April 27, 2026. Tax rates, deadlines, and procedures are subject to change. Consult your county appraisal district for the most current information.