After a month of legal conflict, Tarrant Appraisal board decides how to fill open seat
Under threat of lawsuits and a bill that seeks to abolish the agency, the Tarrant Appraisal District board on Friday rescinded its decision to accept Kathryn Wilemon’s resignation. Her seat will be filled through the recall process.
The Keller City Council initiated the recall process with a vote on Feb. 21 to recall the board chair. The next day, Wilemon resigned, leaving leaders questioning how to fill the seat.
When a member of the TAD board resigns, all taxing entities receive a notice of vacancy. Each is invited to nominate a replacement to fill the vacancy. The TAD board then selects the replacement.
When a member of the board is recalled, a notice of recall is sent to each of the taxing entities that voted for the person who was recalled. Replacements then submit applications to the taxing entities that selected the member who was recalled. Those entities vote for the replacement.
The legal conflict surrounding board leadership culminated in the filing of legislation to abolish the district.
Just before the March 10 deadline to submit new legislation, Republican Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth proposed a bill that would put TAD functions under the purview of the comptroller’s office..
When the board voted at its Friday meeting, board member Tony Pompa defended the board.
“Contrary to what some of the media posted and what some of the people have said, we didn’t really ever want to take away the taxing entities’ authority to do what they have the authority to do,” said board member Tony Pompa during the board’s Friday meeting at which the vote was taken.
The Tarrant Appraisal District is responsible for appraising property — from homes to commercial buildings to industrial sites. These appraisals are used to calculate annual property taxes, based on rates set by cities, school districts and other entities.
Legal confusion
Wilemon was elected to the board in 2019, and her term would have expired at the end of this year.
After executive session at the board’s March 3 meeting, Chief Appraiser Jeff Law said: “The recall does not supersede the vacancy, and the vacancy does not supersede the recall.”
However, in a letter sent the same day to taxing entities, he wrote: “Since the recall process was only initiated, it is now canceled as a result of the vacancy.”
Tarrant County commissioners voted March 7 to recall Wilemon, and then on March 10 Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells wrote Law and threatened legal action if the board stopped the recall process, in response to Law’s letter.
Law responded in a letter to the DA’s office dated March 14: “Although I cannot speak for the board and I do not know how the Board will proceed, at the last meeting, there were Directors which publicly commented that they believed the County should have the right to select the replacement member.”
During Friday’s meeting, Pompa criticized the city of Keller for recalling Wilemon without talking to her first and criticized the taxing entities for threatening to sue the board without reaching out first.
“All they need to do is call us and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’” Pompa said.
When asked about the discrepancy between the meeting and his letter, Law said, “I probably could have used a softer phrase there. I could have said, ‘It may be canceled,’ instead of, ‘It is canceled.’ But it wasn’t my intention to circumvent any taxing entities’ authority, rights or anything like that.”
Letter of repair
During Friday’s meeting, board member Rich DeOtte made a motion to dismiss Law. His motion did not receive a second.
But, the board issued a letter of repair for Law.
Once the letter is drawn up by board member Jungus Jordan and board attorney Matthew Tepper, Law will have 90 days to complete the tasks outlined.
Friday’s meeting opened with an hour of public comment from people defending and criticizing TAD and Law.
“Mr. Geren has brought up abolishing this board,” said Jeremy Parrish, of Keller. “I think the board should abolish itself. I think out of respect for the people, you should take an inward look and realize that it is just full of rotten cronyism.”
Meanwhile, TAD employees Terrisa Stewart mentioned TAD’s professional achievements — the agency was awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration from the International Association of Assessment Officers in 2016.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work for good bosses over the years. I can say without any hesitation that Mr. Law and Mr. Craig are the most ethical honest and dedicated I’ve every worked with,” said Stewart, referring to Jeff Craig, the director of administration.
A group of eight that identified itself as “Employees of TAD” surrounded the podium for a public comment.
“We are not terrified of Mr. Law,” said Misty Lester, who spoke for the group.
Online protests
The board also addressed a logistical question: will taxpayers be able to protest their appraisals online this year?
For months, the agency’s website has not been fully functional.
Before the Friday meeting, the Star-Telegram reached out to the Appraisal Review Board about this topic when it appeared on the agenda.
“I wouldn’t be able to comment on that at this time. You might try me later,” said board chair Nancy Sharpe.
Law answered, “It is our plan to have the online protest available and I believe the plan will work.”
During Friday’s meeting, Director of Information Systems Cal Wood explained the agency started proactively assessing for security vulnerabilities starting in July.
But he assured the board that taxpayers will be able to protest their appraisals online this year.
“Our goal is to keep people out of the building and do things virtually,” said Wood.
This story was originally published March 17, 2023 at 4:15 PM.
