Most Tarrant Appraisal District board candidates want yearly home reappraisals back

Voters choosing three members of the Tarrant Appraisal District board on Nov. 3 will mostly be picking among candidates who want to go back to reappraising homes every year, the Fort Worth Report found at a candidate forum this week.

The appraisal district switched to reappraising residential property every two years in 2024, and the board narrowly renewed that policy in September on a 5-4 vote. Two members of that majority are not running again. Commercial property is still reappraised annually.

Under state law, the board rewrites its reappraisal plan every two years, so the next chance to change the home schedule comes in 2028.

Where the candidates stand

Based on their forum answers and questionnaires, as reported by the Report:

• Place 1 (open seat, incumbent Eric Morris not running): Phyllis Grissom, Byron Haynes and Sayeda Bilqees Syed support annual reappraisals. Rebecca Hardy supports keeping the two-year schedule.
• Place 2 (open seat, incumbent Callie Rigney not running): Ambika Sharma and Paul Stockard support annual reappraisals. Marshall Hobbs supports the two-year schedule. Cary Cheshire would reappraise homes every five years, or yearly when an owner asks.
• Place 3: Matt Bryant, the incumbent, who voted for the two-year policy, wants to keep it. Challenger John Adams supports returning to annual reappraisals.

The arguments

Supporters of yearly reviews say the two-year cycle has left many values too high while the housing market has softened. Grissom said an annual appraisal means an annual review, not an annual increase, and that a frozen value is not taxpayer friendly if it is the wrong number.

Adams said he was among the roughly 190,000 owners he described as overappraised under the current policy, with his own home about $70,000 too high by TAD's data. Sharma said the two-year cycle has made it harder for local governments to forecast tax revenue.

Bryant defended the policy he voted for. He said the board expected a flat market when it adopted the two-year cycle, that a freeze in a flat market produces fairly accurate values, and that without it values tend to climb 6% to 9% a year regardless of the market.

Cheshire, in his questionnaire, called the two-year policy a circuit breaker that protected homeowners from runaway appraisal growth.

Candidates on both sides said the board's job is to produce accurate values, not to cut anyone's taxes or balance local budgets.

The forum, hosted by the Fort Worth Report with the League of Women Voters and KERA, was held Monday at Texas Wesleyan University. Hardy and Cheshire did not attend. Early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30.

Sources

fortworthreport.org