Legislative Priorities

The TAAD Legislative Committee is committed to working with our members and the members of the Legislature for the betterment of the property tax appraisal process across the State of Texas. Below is a short list of the issues the committee has identified as being important to all CADs and to the appraisal process in general. These are the specific items on which TAAD will actively pursue legislative changes during the 90^th session.

Abatement Reporting – Chief Appraisers are currently required to report all abatement agreements to the Comptroller’s office. Often, the CAD does not have all the required data for the report and must rely on the taxing unit that granted the agreement to provide the data. TAAD feels it would be more appropriate for the taxing unit that entered into the abatement agreement to file these reports as opposed to the chief appraiser having this responsibility.

Board of Directors Election Clean-up – TAAD has concerns regarding the cost of these elections and the cost of run-off elections. We will seek legislation to change the requirements to be elected from a majority vote to a plurality vote, thus eliminating the need for future run-off elections.

Appraisal Reform – There has been much discussion among members of the legislature regarding the need for appraisal reform. TAAD will work with the legislature to provide information regarding the roles and responsibilities of the appraisal district, the mass appraisal process, and appraisal methodology. The committee will provide data on how certain proposals will impact the appraisal process as it relates to market value and equal and uniform appraisals.

Decoupling the MAP Review from the SDPVS – Under the current system, if an appraisal district has failed a MAP review, their school districts are no longer eligible for grace on the SDPVS. TAAD will work with PTAD on legislation that will separate the two from each other and still allow schools their grace period in the event of a failed MAP review.

MAP Grace Period for new Chief Appraisers – Often, newly-hired chief appraisers inherit an appraisal district not in full compliance with statutory MAP requirements. These noncompliance issues can take time to rectify. TAAD seeks legislation allowing a grace period for the appraisal district’s new chief appraiser to show good faith effort while attempting to correct the noncompliance issues.

Appraisal Review Board Eligibility, Term Limits and Unemployment – Many counties are struggling to find individuals willing to serve on the Appraisal Review Board. Shortages in ARB members can cause delays in the certification of an appraisal roll. TAAD will seek legislation that will allow an ARB member who has “termed out” to sit out for one year and then be eligible for re-appointment. TAAD will also ask for the ability of individuals who serve as election judges to also be eligible to serve on an ARB. We will also ask for a review of state and federal law which allows ARB members to draw unemployment benefits during the “off season”.

Oppose Legislation that Further Politicizes the Appraisal Process – Many legislators have made it part of their campaign to introduce legislation to make chief appraisers, board of directors, or appraisal review board members elected positions. TAAD will oppose any legislation that has the potential of interjecting politics into the appraisal process and will work to educate members of the legislature on the negative effects this would have.

Binding Arbitration and Limited Binding Arbitration – Under the current rules, the arbitrator assigned to a case has the decision-making authority on whether an arbitration meets all the legal requirements to be valid. We believe this creates a conflict of interest and will ask for changes in the process that will require the Comptrollers office to make the eligibility determinations. We will be asking for an appeal process for appraisal districts to appeal on jurisdictional issues and limit the number of LBA’s an individual may file on a single property each year.

House Bill 9 Clean-up – There have been many questions regarding the intent and implementation of HB9. TAAD will work on legislation to clarify how the new $125,000 BPP exemption should be administered to ensure consistency state-wide.

Homestead Exemption Eligibility Requirements – TAAD will work with the Legislature and the Department of Public Safety to allow real-time access to the DPS database for purposes of verification of driver’s licenses and to eliminate the need for CAD’s to obtain and retain photocopies of driver’s licenses in our database. We will ensure that any change in this matter will also be reflected in the MAP review process when HS applications are reviewed.

Agents – There has been a recent uptick of property owners hiring agents one year and not understanding that the appointment of the agent remains in place for future years unless revoked by the owner. We will look for alternatives to ensure each property owner is fully aware of this or seek changes that would require a new appointment of agent form to be filed each year. We will also look for greater transparency in advertising to ensure that any advertising from an agent is factual and not misleading.

Postage and Postmarks – The cost of postage and mailings has become a large expense for appraisal districts. Many property owners have shown frustration with certified mail requirements that require them to pick up mail from the post office. We will seek ways to reduce the amount of mail that we are required to send each year. We also have concerns with the post office’s new procedures regarding when a piece of mail gets postmarked. We will be looking for clarification on how we should be relying on postmarks to determine if filings were made timely.

The TAAD Legislative Committee will monitor all property tax related bills during the session and focus efforts not only on the items on this list but will also work with other stakeholders to ensure any new legislation filed is in the best interest of fairness in the property tax system, specifically the appraisal of property.

TAAD will review all potential legislation and determine its position on individual bills based on the criteria listed below:

•  Does it provide for greater transparency in the appraisal process?
• Does it allow CADs to produce accurate appraisals of property?
• Will it require additional resources for the CAD to implement and is the cost of implementation funded by the state?
• Is it fair and equal treatment to ALL property owners?

Adopted August 2026