This bill filed in the Texas House could undo last year’s change to TAD reappraisal plan
State Rep. Chris Turner filed a bill in the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 13, that would overturn a move by the Tarrant Appraisal District to reappraise property in the county every other year.
If passed, the legislation would require appraisal districts to conduct annual appraisals of all property in the counties they serve.
The TAD Board of Directors passed sweeping changes to the county’s reappraisal plan in July. In addition to the two-year appraisal process, they also approved a pause on reappraisals in 2025 and a 5% “threshold” on market value increases. The threshold requires TAD to provide “clear and convincing evidence” to support an increase higher than 5%.
Turner, a Democrat whose district covers parts of Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield, also filed a bill that would require elected and appointed appraisal district board members to undergo “comprehensive training,” according to a press release from Turner’s office.
That bill would also require board members to sign an acknowledgment that they “understand their role in the process,” the press release states.
“Some of the measures adopted by the Tarrant Appraisal District are damaging to our local communities, and potentially catastrophic for our public schools,” Turner said in the press release. “Our Tarrant County school districts cannot afford to be robbed of $100 million in funding, and Tarrant County citizens deserve to have their property values determined in an accurate and uniform way. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Property Tax Appraisals, I look forward to ensuring our appraisal process is conducted fairly, accurately, and as the Texas Constitution prescribes.”
School districts last year expressed concern about how the changes would affect their funding and ability to service bonds. Nine school board presidents signed an open letter to TAD in August that said the board “displayed a shocking lack of understanding regarding school funding laws” and “deliberately defunded” public schools when it passed the changes.
TAD Executive Director and Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt told the Star-Telegram that he had not yet had time to read the bills Turner filed.
Board member Wendy Burgess, who previously served as Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector, said the bill was likely a reaction to seven county school districts being at risk of failing their 2025 property value studies, in which the state office declares its own estimation of property values in a school district.
If the comptroller’s value for a district differs from TAD’s estimate by 10% or more, the district automatically loses state funding. If the property value study is off by 5% to 10%, the district enters a grace period and has two years to align property values more closely with the comptroller’s numbers. Appraising every other year could render districts unable to do so.
Burgess said she agrees with the bill to require training for board members.
Fred Campos, who joined the board in January, declined to comment.
Other board members did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the bills.
On Feb. 3, Bobbitt sent an email to representatives from the Fort Worth, Aledo, Azle, Castleberry, Carroll, Everman, and Grapevine Colleyville school districts asking them to adopt resolutions to reappraise this year in order to avoid failing the studies.
Carroll school board president Cameron Bryan responded in an open letter by saying that if the district were to fail the property value study, the board would request an audit. If the district were to fail the audit, the state could assign higher property values, “potentially increasing the amount of local tax revenue sent to the state through recapture,” he said.
“While the district does not control property appraisals, we recognize the potential financial impact on our residents and will request TAD to ensure fairness and accuracy in the valuation process,” Bryan said.
Callie Rigney, Matt Bryant and Eric Morris — the TAD board’s elected members who were sworn in last July — campaigned on changing reappraisals to every three years and a hard 5% cap on market value increases. The changes that were approved were the result of compromise after the board heard opposition from school districts and tax professionals, as well as legal advice from the board’s counsel that a 5% cap would have been illegal.
Turner also announced that he had been named Chairman of the permanent Ways and Means Subcommittee on Property Tax Appraisals, a new subcommittee responsible for considering all matters relating to the appraisal of property for taxation.
“The Texas Constitution requires taxation to be equal and uniform, and to meet that requirement the Legislature must ensure that the appraisal process is as fair and consistent as possible for all property owners across the state,” the statement from his office read.
Turner thanked newly elected Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows of Lubbock for appointing him to lead the new committee.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders around the state to strengthen our appraisal system and improve public confidence in this process,” Turner said.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM.
