Last-minute amendment could force annual home appraisals in Tarrant County
An amendment tacked on at the 11th hour to a bill regulating what types of images a county appraisal district can post online appears poised to undo last year’s changes to how the Tarrant Appraisal District values property.
Last July, TAD approved sweeping changes to its appraisal plan, going from annual appraisals to every other year, putting a pause on appraisals in 2025, and placing a 5% threshold on market value increases. The pause and the every-other-year scheme have pushed Tarrant County’s next property appraisals to 2027.
The amendment, which was added by Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, just before the Texas House voted to approve Senate bill 973, states that a county’s reappraisal plan “may not include a standard or timeline that prevents the chief appraiser from appraising property as necessary to comply with the requirements of Section 23.01(a).”
The bill awaits a signature from Gov. Greg Abbott and would go into effect Sept. 1.
Section 23.01(a) of the tax code is at the heart of the conflict that allowed for the TAD changes, one that Geren and other lawmakers attempted to clear up with several proposed pieces of legislation in the session that ended on June 2.
Amendment ‘tightens’ language on appraisal plans
While opponents said that statute mandates annual reappraisals every Jan. 1, supporters pointed to Section 25.18(b), which states that a county’s reappraisal plan “shall provide for the following reappraisal activities for all real and personal property in the district at least once every three years.”
Geren did not respond to requests for comment, but Rep. Chris Turner, the Grand Prairie Democrat who sponsored the bill in the House, said the amendment “tightens the language with respect to appraisal plans” in an attempt to resolve the conflict.
Turner filed a bill aimed at mandating annual appraisals that made it out of the House, but stalled in the Senate. The amendment to SB 973 was pulled from this and similar bills from Geren and Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican. Those bills ultimately did not pass.
“We’re all interested in having best practices in our appraisal process across the state,” Turner said in an interview. “In Tarrant County, obviously, a lot of us are deeply concerned about the negative impact on our public school districts with respect to the appraisal plan currently in place.”
Senator: last year’s TAD changes violated tax code
Bettencourt told the Star-Telegram last year that TAD’s changes violated the tax code, and school district representatives and tax experts warned they would negatively impact school funding by causing districts to fall out of compliance with the Texas Comptroller’s property value studies.
Several Tarrant County school districts accused TAD of deliberately defunding public schools last August.
“That’s why it is so important that our appraisal districts follow existing state law, which requires annual reappraisals,” Turner said.
Section 25.18(b) does not allow for reappraisals as little as once every three years, Turner said, but rather applies to various activities regarding the creation and adoption of a reappraisal plan.
“Reappraisal is naturally part of the appraisal plan, but their appraisal plan includes other other elements, and that’s what the statute requires to be updated every three years,” he said. “Section 23.01 of the tax code, which has been in place for some time, is very clear that all property is to be appraised to its market value as of Jan. 1 each year.”
TAD board members and chief appraiser await legal counsel
Beginning with the caveat that he is not a lawyer, TAD Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt said the plain language of the amendment does not appear to mandate annual appraisals, but rather to ensure that appraisals are done on Jan. 1.
TAD’s current plan “might still be compliant as long as we’re not appraising as of May 15th or some other date on the years we reappraise,” he said in an email.
Further, even if the amendment does require annual appraisals, Tarrant County taxpayers likely still won’t see new appraisals until 2027, he said, as that is the next year they plan to have an updated reappraisal plan ready.
“I haven’t spoken with any attorneys regarding their opinion on this, as I could be misinterpreting it or overthinking it, but in the summer we should get a legislative update and a better idea of the impact,” Bobbitt said. “Either way we’ll comply with the law once we get legal advice.”
TAD Board of Directors Chairman Rick Barnes, who is also the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TAD board member and former tax assessor-collector Wendy Burgess said she believes the intent of the legislation is to mandate annual appraisals, but that she is “certain there will be vigorous debate on this issue” and that the “attorneys will need to weigh in.”
Fred Campos, who took his seat on the TAD board earlier this year, said he believes the appraisal plan approved by last year’s board has “had unintended negative consequences for Tarrant County school districts.”
He also warned of a “taxpayer surprise” if home values continue to rise in the years that TAD does not reappraise properties.
“I look forward to seeing whether the governor signs SB 973, which I fully support, to help address this local overreach,” he said.
Alan Blaylock, who sits on the TAD Board of Directors and the Fort Worth City Council, declined to comment, saying he had not had time to look into the amendment. Other TAD board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A Star-Telegram investigation from August found that Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare “scripted” the agenda items that resulted in the changes to TAD’s reappraisal plan. His chief of staff Ruth Ray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally published June 6, 2025 at 2:27 PM.
