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 89th session.

Abatement Reporting – Chief Appraisers are currently required to report all abatement agreements to the Comptrollers 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.

Sketches on CAD Websites – Several sessions back, CAD’s were required to remove all exterior sketches of improvements form their websites. This information is helpful to many consumers such as real estate appraisers, realtors, and property owners wanting to verify that our data is correct. TAAD will propose legislation that will allow us to show sketches of the exterior only of improvements. This will provide greater transparency of our data and be a public service benefit to many users of our data.

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. TAAD feels it is important for the board of directors to have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the board. We will ask for legislation that would require mandatory training for all board of directors (elected and appointed members).

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, 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. It is TAAD’s belief that under the current market value standard, the only forms of appraisal reform that would be meaningful to property owners are assessment ratios or appraisal caps. TAAD will explore these concepts and outline them with members of the legislature.

Financing the Construction of Facilities and the Approval Process – There has been a recent interpretation of the tax code section 6.051 that the code does not allow districts to finance the purchase of real property. TAAD will work on legislation that will clarify that districts may seek financing for the purchase of real property. The current process for entity approval for acquisition of real property or the construction or renovation of a building is extremely cumbersome and difficult to gain approval. TAAD will work on legislation to make the approval process more obtainable without removing any of the transparency of the process. We will refile HB2908 from the 88th session.

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.

Appraisal Review Board Eligibility – 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 refile SB361 from the 88th session which allows teachers to serve as ARB members. SB361 passed but was eventually vetoed by the Governor. In addition to this, we will add language that would remove the current term limits for ARB members.

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 cause.

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 November 2024