Everything You Need to Know About the New Appraisal District Board Election

Background: Turmoil and Reform

For the first time ever, voters in each of the largest counties across the state will elect three board members to oversee the agency charged with appraising property for tax purposes. The election on May 4, 2024, comes amid a tumultuous time for the Tarrant Appraisal District Board of Directors (BOD), which has been mired in a series of scandals. The fallout from public outcry last year resulted in departures of several top TAD leaders, including the board chairwoman, the chief appraiser, top IT executives, and the directors of residential and commercial departments. The final boot was given to the Tarrant tax assessor who recently lost the primary election.

You can find your voting location here. 

Legislative Response: SB 2 and Voter Empowerment

State lawmakers took notice of the upheaval in Tarrant County and agreed to give voters the opportunity to choose who represents them on the board, which had only been appointed by the county, cities, school districts, and other local taxing entities. Senate Bill 2 requires counties with a population over 75,000 to have their boards of directors increased by three members, who will be elected by voters to staggered four-year terms.

The change expanded the Tarrant County Board of Directors to nine voting members - four appointed, three publicly elected - and granted voting privileges to the tax assessor starting July 1, 2024. The three new positions are labeled At-Large Place 1, At-Large Place 2, and At-Large Place 3 on the countywide ballot.

New Responsibilities: Shifting Powers and Accountability

While the board of directors don’t make direct decisions regarding property values, they have the authority to choose who does. The board has a new responsibility of hiring all of the protest hearing panelists - who do have the power to change property values. Until now, the board’s main role had been to hire the county’s chief appraiser and set the appraisal district’s budget.

The three newly elected positions will be like all other sitting board members, except they’ll have an extra special power when it comes to hiring panelists for the protest hearing. A candidate must receive approval from at least two of the three “at-large” directors when the total board votes.

These panelists, who are formally called members the Appraisal Review Board (ARB), had been appointed to the position by an administrative law judge. Lawmakers hope the SB 2 legislation will address some of the loudest complaints about the tax protest system.

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s office was charged with approving candidates for the ballot. Eligibility requirements included:

• Must be a county resident for a least two years
• Must not be a representative of a tax entity or appraisal district

The state left it to the appraisal districts to pay for the new election as an unfunded mandate, which was estimated to cost $300,000 in Tarrant County, said TAD board Chairman Vince Puente Sr.

Meet the Candidates Competing for Tarrant County's Appraisal Board

Place 1

Eric Morris
Electericmorris.com

Sayeda Syed
facebook.com/Sayeda4TAD

Trae Fowler 
fowlerfortad.com 
facebook.com/FowlerForTAD

Place 2

Callie Rigney
VoteCallieRigney.com

Eric B. Crile
facebook.com/CrileforTAD

Place 3

Chuck Kelley
facebook.com/Chuck4TAD

Matt Bryant
ElectMattBryant.com

Lee Henderson
LeeHenderson.org