Tarrant’s top property tax appraiser is suspended after failing to notify board of complaints

Tarrant County Chief Appraiser Jeff Law has been suspended for two weeks after he failed to notify the board that one of his employees filed complaints against Chandler Crouch, a Tarrant County Realtor who helps people protest their property tax appraisers.

The Tarrant Appraisal District Board of Directors voted 4-1 Friday in favor of the motion. Self-described “reformer” board member Rich DeOtte voted against the motion; he supported Law’s removal.

This was the second consecutive meeting where Tarrant County taxpayers disgruntled with TAD and its treatment of Crouch packed the agency office to demand transparency.

Will Law’s suspension set in motion the culture shift the public is demanding?

“That concerns me,” said DeOtte, who has struggled to get the board to self-reflect in the past. “I can’t say.”

How did we get here?

It’s likely more people showed up to support Chandler Crouch on June 30 than all previous speakers at TAD board meetings since its inception, DeOtte said.

Because the meeting took place in a 14-person room, hundreds of people braved triple digit heat to register their complaints with TAD after news broke that a TAD employee — in his official capacity — filed complaints against Crouch with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

In his complaint, Director of Residential Appraisals Randy Armstrong, argued Crouch “files thousands of protests annually that he cannot possibly responsibly and properly represent.”

Crouch was notified of the complaints in November, at which point he reached out to Law. The matter was not publicly discussed until months later, after Crouch’s attorney Frank Hill sent multiple letters to the Tarrant Appraisal District board, asking the agency to separate itself from the complaints.

Throughout the process, Crouch has maintained he wanted to avoid going public with the matter.

After nearly four hours of impassioned public comment at its June 30 meeting, the board agreed to investigate the issue and send a letter to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation clarifying that TAD did not sanction Armstrong’s complaint. That’s the request Hill made in a letter dated May 12.

The complaints were dropped on Thursday for lack of evidence.

Behind the curtain at TAD

Crouch’s supporters weren’t solely focused on the agency’s treatment of him. Rather, many residents detailed perilously rising property tax bills and getting bullied by Armstrong and the Appraisal Review Board.

They also touched on other problems that have plagued the agency in recent years, including a $12 million software glitch that led to an “explosive” audit, protest deadline confusion, errors in tax statements and failure to send protest notices.

Then, there’s the rise in property tax protests.

Between 2015 and 2019, the number of annual protests at TAD more than tripled.

In his first two-year term, board member DeOtte started pushing for an audit of TAD to determine the cause of increased protests. The explosion in protests was an aberration among large metropolitan appraisal districts in Texas, DeOtte noted.

It even garnered the attention of state Sen. Jane Nelson, whose district included much of Tarrant County. In April 2020, she wrote to the board requesting an investigation into the rise in protests.

While DeOtte’s push wasn’t received well by all members, in June 2020, the board narrowly voted to consider a review. But when it came down to initiating the review, the board voted not to.

Friday’s meeting

The board’s Friday meeting reflected some lessons learned. First of all, the meeting took place in a room for 50 people with overflow space for additional spectators.

Most speakers during the one-and-a-half hours of public comment either voiced support for Crouch as a client or criticized TAD’s lack of transparency.

“I’ve never used anyone to fight my taxes. I’m here because of what I read in the newspaper,” said Guy Patrick, a homeowner in Keller. “I’m concerned with the leadership here. I think it starts at the top.”

However, during this meeting, a second contingent of commenters accused Crouch of forging tax documents and claiming as clients people who did not work with him.

James O’Day, of O’Day Harrison Grant Property Tax Consulting Services, said he attended several hearings before the Appraisal Review Board for clients who had already paid him to find that other tax consultants (like Crouch) were listed as the client’s agent.

“I was being personally affected by it,” O’Day said.

When asked about these claims, Crouch said it looked like a coordinated effort to deflect from the issues at hand.

“I do for free what they do for a fee,” he said, adding he’s worked with O’Day in the past and even referred clients to him.

The board opted to table discussion of the issue for a future meeting.

After about an hour and a half of public comment, chair Kathryn Wilemon assured the audience that board is working, but struck a defensive tone.

“I really don’t appreciate the attack on our integrity,” she said, calling comments and emails to the board “abusive.”

Taking action

After three hours of deliberation in a closed-door executive session, the TAD board emerged to discuss the professional fate of Law.

Mitigating factors, as board member Tony Pompa noted,include Law’s prior performance. For example, Law has always submitted necessary information to Tax Collector-Assessor Wendy Burgess on time.

Armstrong was also suspended without pay, and the board voted to make public the results of its internal investigation. Jeff Craig will serve as interim chief appraiser during Law’s two-week suspension.

“I don’t agree that two weeks is enough, but that’s the decision,” said DeOtte.

With increased public scrutiny on the board and the agency, he’s committed to moving ahead with action items that will increase transparency, like ensuring that all board members are streamed virtually to the public.

After the meeting, Crouch said he respected the board’s decision, but it might not be enough to address the issues Tarrant County taxpayers have with TAD.

“I think there’s a culture shift that needs to happen,” he said.