01 · Records and coverage
Published facts lead every result.
Lots in Common is designed around appraisal and protest records published for Travis County. A live result will identify its source coverage, release date, and data-through date close to the conclusion—not only in a footnote.
The application will consume one validated, versioned public release. Source-specific names and coverage belong here only after that release is defined and verified.
02 · Values and precision
A reduction, taxable-value effect, and bill effect are separate claims.
Appraisal records contain several value layers. The interface will name the layer it is showing and will not quietly treat one as another. A protest reduction can be recorded without changing taxable value, and a taxable-value change does not by itself establish an exact tax-bill change.
If the published record cannot support the next step, the result will say it is unavailable. Missing is never displayed as zero.
03 · Local comparisons
Area comparisons name where, when, and how much evidence.
A neighborhood or place name routes to its main TCAD appraisal area. The comparison uses that broader area, keeps completed years separate from the current partial year, and shows each filer only from protests recorded in that area and year.
- TCAD market-value reduction is the percentage decrease from the property’s initial notice value to its post-protest value among protests with a recorded reduction.
- Net tax bill savings* is the signed share of the whole no-protest tax bill saved after caps, exemptions, and the modeled agent fee.
- The percentage beneath each histogram marks the center of the densest half-percentage-point window. Bars show the share of reductions in half-point bins, are scaled within each chart, and give every nonzero bin a small visible baseline. Every chart uses one shared horizontal scale that covers each charted group’s middle 80%; rare results beyond it are not shown.
- Twenty or more reduced protests produce a histogram. Two through nineteen are labeled a small sample and keep the supplied peak without drawing a noisy shape; fewer than two do not produce a pattern.
- Missing or unresolved outcomes are never displayed as zero.
- Pathways are compared neutrally, without a winner, grade, or recommendation.
04 · Fee estimates
Observed outcomes first. Estimated fees beside them.
A fee-adjusted figure is not a county record. Whenever one appears, it will be marked with an asterisk and described as an estimate based on firm-published rates. The rate basis and effective period will remain available with the calculation.
*Estimated using firm-published rates.
If a fee cannot be estimated responsibly, the interface will keep the observed outcome and label the fee-adjusted view unavailable.
05 · Partial-year records
Incomplete releases never masquerade as completed results.
Current-year records live in a distinct year tab with a data-through date and a meaningful completeness statement. Unresolved protests are excluded from the posted distributions rather than counted as zero. TCAD market-value reductions are observed from posted results. Current-year after-fee savings use estimated tax rates, so the interface labels them as estimates and keeps them separate from completed historical comparisons.
06 · Following-year history
Later context is observed, not predicted.
When a completed following year is available, the property story may show what the public appraisal record did next. If the next year has not been observed, the interface will say so rather than substitute a projection.
07 · Publication boundary
Property facts without owner identity.
A visitor may look up a Travis County property by address. Results may show the situs address and public appraisal and protest facts. They exclude owner names, owner mailing addresses, contact information, and personal-characteristic exemption flags.
Neighborhood results remain aggregate. They do not expose address lists or parcel-level identity views.
08 · Corrections and feedback
A direct path will be live on day one.
The launch release will include a clear way to report a suspected record problem, ask how a result was calculated, or say that an explanation was not useful. Provider and privacy details remain undecided, so this foundation does not publish a dead form or an invented contact address.
Current state: corrections intake is not active in this static design foundation.