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Home My WebLink About2025-03-25 Euless Articles Tarrant Appraisal District keeps reappraisal plan in place, leaving school districts in limbo by Matthew Sgroi March 12, 2025 6:45 pm As a metronome ticked steadily on the table in front of him and a hose lay coiled at his side, Tarrant Appraisal District board member Fred Campos attempted to make his case. Using props to illustrate his point at a March 12 work session, Campos argued that timing — not the policy itself — was the problem with the Tarrant Appraisal District’s reappraisal plan, which freezes residential property values for 2025 and shifts the district to a two-year appraisal cycle. He urged fellow board members to delay the start of the two-year appraisal cycle until 2026, allowing school districts more time to adjust their budgets — and prepare for cuts. “I do not want to take away the great progress we’ve made,” Campos, a Hurst -Euless- Bedford ISD board member who assumed his TAD seat in January, said. “I just think we have to change the timing. If nothing else, give them time to adjust.” Campos’ motion, which would have allowed TAD staff to reassess property values this year before the freeze took effect in 2026, failed 4-4. While Campos, Alan Blaylock, Wendy Burgess and Gloria Peña supported the amendment, Chairman Rick Barnes, Michael Alfred, Eric Morris and Callie Rigney voted against. Matt Bryant was absent. Moments later, the board voted 5-3 to indefinitely table its discussion on the reappraisal plan. Blaylock, a Fort Worth City Council member, was the only board member who voted for the amendment to also vote for the discussion to be tabled. By tabling the issue, TAD will proceed under the reappraisal plan approved in August 2024, which implemented the two-year appraisal cycle and a 5% cap on property value increases per cycle, meaning no properties in Tarrant County will be reassessed unless a future motion is brought to reconsider the plan. The move ensures property values remain frozen and leaves multiple school districts in limbo as they brace for potential cuts. “Right now, everybody in the county will receive no reappraisals,” Barnes told the Report following the meeting. The decision was a setback for Azle, Castleberry, Everman, Fort Worth, Kennedale and Northwest ISDs, whose trustees had formally asked TAD to reappraise ce rtain properties within their boundaries. School officials warned that failure to adjust property values could cost their districts millions in state funding, forcing potential cuts to staff, programs and student resources. Castleberry ISD Superintendent Renee Smith-Faulkner said her district stands to lose $3.5 million, or nearly 8% of its budget — an amount that equates to roughly 47 teacher positions. “This is not just a financial issue,” she told the board Wednesday. “It is a matter of educational survival in our community.” TAD officials also estimated that Carroll and Grapevine-Colleyville ISDs were in danger of failing the property value study. Carroll ISD’s board president, Cameron Bryan, released a statement indicating the district would not request a reappraisal, but would pursue a local value study audit if Carroll fails the state study. Grapevine -Colleyville ISD did not weigh in. School districts warn of lost funding Fort Worth ISD Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arieta-Candelaria told board members that the district could lose between $26 million to $51 million if property values fail to align with the state’s property value study. The Texas Comptroller’s Office conducts a property value study every two years. If a district’s locally appraised property values fall more than 5% below the comptroller’s market estimates, it enters a two-year grace period to correct the discrepancy. If the gap exceeds 10%, the district immediately loses state funding, forcing it to rely more on local tax revenue or budget cuts to close the gap. “Your chief appraiser has indicated to us that we are in danger of failing our property value study and that is critical to us from a funding perspective,” Arieta -Candelaria said. “We have relied on the stable predictability, the reliability of the numbers that have come from TAD over the years.” Board member Eric Morris pushed back, arguing an appraisal would create an immediate burden on homeowners — some of whom, he said, could be taxed out of their homes. Morris spoke about his own struggle to buy a home in Tarrant County, explaining that rising property taxes have made affordability difficult for some. While he was preapproved for a mortgage, he hesitated to purchase a home, fearing that tax increases could eventually force him to sell. “If we make a change, there are people in Tarrant County that will lose their home as a consequence,” he said. “That is a statement of fact.” Campos, still advocating for a one-year delay, reached for his garden hose, lifted it and squeezed it tightly. “I want to give you a visual,” he told Morris. “What we’re doing is we are holding down for a short period of time. If values continue to go up a little bit, we’ve solved the problem of not being able to afford it today, but they will get a taxpaye r surprise and it will still go up two or three years from now.” Campos loosened his grip. “The point that you were making, which I totally want to validate, is only deferring the ball downstream,” he said. Barnes: Texas Education Agency, not TAD, is the real problem Barnes, who was elected as Tarrant County’s tax assessor-collector last November, turned his attention back to school officials. He argued the real issue wasn’t TAD’s reappraisal cycle, but how the state and the Texas Education Agency fund pub lic schools. “The problem is with your organization called the TEA,” Barnes said. “Your issues lie with TEA and the funding model.” School districts receive funding through a combination of local property taxes and state aid. The state’s school finance system uses a complex formula to determine how much tax revenue districts receive. If local property values are high, the state reduces its share, requiring districts to rely more on local tax revenue. If values are low, the state contributes more. He warned that reappraising now would raise taxes across the county, not just for schools but for cities, the hospital district and community colleges. “The taxpayers are tired of this conversation,” Barnes said. “They’re tired of being backed into a corner.” Despite the setback for her district, Smith-Faulkner told the Report she remains hopeful that state lawmakers will take action to address the funding disparities caused by the state’s property value study. “We are watching the legislative session real close right now,” she said. “There was a Ways and Means Committee that just spoke about this exact thing. They had TEA there, they had the state comptroller there, and they’re actually uncovering that this might be unfair to the school districts.” State Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat representing Arlington and Grand Prairie, has also introduced a bill that would make parts of TAD’s reappraisal plan — including its two- year cycle — illegal. With about 60 districts statewide impacted by the shortfall, Smith -Faulkner said lawmakers may recognize the inequities built into the system and consider changes. “I think they’re looking at what they can do to help with this process,” Smith -Faulkner said. “I would use the word, hopeful.” Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence polic y here.