These TAD board candidates want to cap your appraisal. But that’s not what the law allows

In Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com.

While nearly every candidate in the race for the Tarrant Appraisal District board mentions fixing the IT issues, some also aim to change the way value appraisals are done.

Tarrant Taxpayer Advocates, the PAC supporting Callie Rigney, Eric Morris and Matt Bryant, state plans to move appraisals to every three years and cap residential appraisal Increases at 5%.

But limiting appraisal increases is not a function of appraisal boards. The Legislature set the cap of 10% for homesteads in the tax code.

“The adoption of a board policy capping or limiting appraised values at 5% is not currently allowed by law,” Joe Don Bobbitt, chief appraiser of the Tarrant Appraisal District, said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.

He said the Legislature might be inclined to make changes in the future but that caps may be less necessary as the real estate market cools.

Election day is Saturday. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Bryant, however interprets the law from a different perspective.

“There is no state law expressly prohibiting a 5% appraisal cap,” Bryant said in a statement. “Pairing that reform with moving appraisals to every three years will provide a welcome pause to aggressive annual value increases that have become the norm for TAD — leading to one of the highest protest rates in the state of Texas.”

Chandler Crouch, a Fort Worth real estate agent and tax consultant, said he supports capping the increase on property values in theory but the appraisal district doesn’t have the power to do that.

“I’m not aware of any mechanism that the board could use to limit appraisals,” Crouch said. “The current tax code requires the appraisal district to value property at 100% of market value.”

Crouch said the appraisal district would be breaking the law by valuing property under market value, however, he does support board members advocating for a policy change on the issue to the state.

A three year cycle on appraisals is allowed by state law, however appraising property once every three years instead of every year could potentially create difficulty for school districts, which receive funding from local property taxes.

The Tarrant Appraisal District conducts appraisals every year.

Crouch said he thinks moving to a three year cycle is a bad idea because it puts the school districts at risk of failing the state comptroller’s property value study.

“If the appraisal district doesn’t value the property accurately, it could negatively affect school funding,” Crouch said.

He added that he does support reappraising property less often, recommending a bi-annual system — similar to neighboring Parker County — but also wonders how feasible it is in a county of over 2 million.

“They are a much smaller appraisal district than Tarrant County so I don’t know that we would have the same success,” Crouch said. “I think It’s an idea worth exploring as long as they’re not putting our school districts in jeopardy of losing funding.”

Bryant, does not seem worried about this.

“Other counties across the state of Texas already conduct appraisals every three years, I am sure the experts are aware of this and are aware this is done without placing undue burden on local entities,” Bryant said.

The appraisal district seems open to discussing the idea.

“Most appraisal districts reappraise annually in order to stay within the market value range required by law for schools to receive their full share of state funding,” Bobbitt said. “The appraisal district will comply with any reappraisal plan or policy adopted by the board of directors and will assist in determining any potential benefits of a 1, 2 or 3 year cycle for the taxpayers and entities we serve.”

Chuck Kelley, running against Bryant in Place 3, said he also is not opposed to shifting to the three year appraisal system but would like to examine the effect it has had on other counties.

He also mentioned that he was aware that capping the value of residential property was not allowed by state law.

“I am all for anything that gives taxpayers relief. But, those are not things that Tarrant Appraisal Board can do by themselves,” Kelley said.

Kelley also said he would rather spend his time focused on making changes and improving the security of the district’s IT department.

The appraisal district suffered a ransomware attack in March, with roughly 300 Tarrant taxpayers’ information now posted on the dark web. That followed a cyberattack in October 2022.

Lee Henderson also a candidate for Place 3, said he has concerns about the three year appraisal system and thinks state law doesn’t necessarily allow for the three years system.

“TAD is not going to freeze values for three years. They still have to issue a market value appraisal on Jan 1. Your appraised value that you are taxed on will still go up as much as 10% each year. This is what the law says, and this board cannot change the law,” Henderson said.

When addressing the 5% cap, Henderson took aim at the candidates proposing it.

“My opponents love to cling to these single talking points, because they’re deceivingly simple. The truth is that archaic processes and many other failings have put our appraisal district in dire straits; high taxes is just the result,” Henderson said.

But Henderson does want to see a change in the way appraisals are done.

“We need a system where taxpayers have redress, transparency, and accountability for unfair appraisals and a top to bottom overhaul of how the district does business.”

Rigney and Morris did not immediately return requests for comment.