Here's who's running for the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors on May 4

Travis County voters on Saturday will elect three members of the appraisal district's board after the Texas Legislature, as part of its 2023 tax relief plan, established a new election process for large counties to seemingly help address increasing property values.

The nine-member board, however, does not appraise property or review property values. Instead, it hires the chief appraiser, approves the appraisal district's budget, approves contracts and sets general policies, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District's website.

While this is a nonpartisan board, candidates in all three races have drawn endorsements from or have ties to political parties. The other, unelected board members will continue to be appointed by the local taxing jurisdictions.

Beginning next year, the board will appoint members of the Travis Appraisal Review Board — a group of residents who resolve disputes between taxpayers and the appraisal district. Those members are currently appointed by a local administrative district judge.

Additionally, Senate Bill 2 — the $18 billion property tax relief plan that Texas voters in November resoundingly approved as a constitutional amendment — requires two of the three elected board members to approve any appointment to the review board, meaning two officials could halt an appointment supported by the rest of the board.

Here's who is running for the three board seats up for grabs Saturday:

Place 1

The two candidates running for Place 1 on the Travis Central Appraisal District's board are Jett Hanna and Don Zimmerman.

Hanna is an attorney with a background in commercial real estate, he told the American-Statesman. He currently serves on the Texas Supreme Court Professional Ethics Committee and previously served on the Travis Central Appraisal District's board from 1988-90.

The board has "a lot of rules and restrictions and needs to be done technically correct," Hanna told the Statesman. "I didn't want it to go by default to somebody who might think well that's an easy way to accomplish some other goal, like reducing taxes."

Hanna was endorsed by the Travis County Democratic Party for the Place 1 seat.

Zimmerman, who is former Austin City Council member, is a research and development engineer with ZimWin Enterprises, he told the Statesman. During his time on the council, he was adamantly opposed to tax increases.

"If elected, my primary job will be the same as when I was first elected President of my (North Austin MUD No.1) utility district — to investigate how the taxing entity may be breaking state laws and contradicting established policy precedent, and look for every conceivable way to serve taxpayers instead of merely serving the taxing entities profiting from unaffordable taxes," Zimmerman told the Statesman in a statement.

Zimmerman was endorsed by the Travis County Republican Party for the Place 1 seat.

Place 2

The three candidates for Place 2 board seat are Matt Mackowiak, Jonathan Patschke and Shenghao “Daniel” Wang.

Mackowiak is president of Potomac Strategy Group and the chair of the Travis County Republican Party. He told the Statesman that he is running for the position "because I wish to fight for taxpayers and ensure maximum transparency and accountability at TCAD."

"The board has important but limited powers. I believe government, especially local government, plays an important role in delivering services," Mackowiak said. "In my view valuations have been out of control for many years in Travis County and apart from the Texas Legislature capping annual property tax increases, local government simply isn’t meeting the moment."

Mackowiak was endorsed by the political party he chairs.

Patschke is a software developer and treasurer of the Travis County Libertarian Party, he told the Statesman. He said the board positions "look like a great opportunity for public oversight."

"I'd like to see a real effort towards improving the accuracy and consistency of valuations," Patschke told the Statesman in a statement. "The situation today is that homeowners are likely overpaying and could hire representation to attend a hearing and fix that. The valuations should be correct without needing adjustment, and I think we could get there by exploring other sources of pricing data to augment what our hard-working appraisers are doing."

Wang is a lawyer who specializes in electricity regulation for utility-scale power in electricity at Eversheds Sutherland, he told the Statesman. He said he is running to "pay it forward" by protecting and preserving public services.

"Appraisals are unsexy but serve as the foundation of our property tax system that funds these basic public services, and we have seen a concerted and persistent effort by Republicans to attack and defund these services," Wang told the Statesman. "So, I want to ensure that technical expertise is protected from political ideology in the appraisal process."

Wang was endorsed by the Travis County Democratic Party for the seat.

Place 3

The two candidates for the Place 3 seat are Dick Lavine and Bill May.

Lavine is a senior fiscal analyst at the Austin-based nonprofit Every Texan, he told the Statesman. He served on the Travis Central Appraisal District's board for over 20 years, many of which he was chairman.

Lavine said he was asked to run by "several key players who were concerned about maintaining the integrity of the district."

On his campaign website, Lavine says he wants to strengthen taxpayer protection and preserve the board's integrity.

He was endorsed by the Travis County Democratic Party for the role.

May did not respond to the Statesman's questions Monday. He was endorsed by the Travis County Republican Party for the seat.

Statesman staff writer Hogan Gore contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Who's running for Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors