TEXAS, USA — We are reaching the time of year when you might be considering a protest against the appraised value of your home. Before you do, you might want to consider this new legislation that elects members to the county appraisal board.
"We did recently pass legislation that increases the number and then also creates an opportunity for members of the public to be elected to those boards," said State Representative (R) Brooks Landgraf.
In November 2023, voters approved a change to the makeup of appraisal boards. The new legislation adds three elected members to the nine member board. The others are all appointed. The goal here is to give taxpayers more of a voice.
"By creating an opportunity for people to be elected to serve on that board I think it just it increases transparency," Landgraf said. "It helps there to be accountability in that process, and again, it gives taxpayers a voice in the appraisal process and the review of those appraisals."
The legislation is so new, a few days ago the election of the new board members was canceled. No one filed to run for the appraisal district board seats in Midland and Ector County.
"Word hasn't gotten out to the legislation that this has been a law for less than a year," Landgraf said. "I think a lot of people just don't know that it's that there's an opportunity to run, you know, same way that you can run for mayor or school board or something like that. So this is new and I think there does need to be an effort to make sure that the public knows."
Running for appraisal board works the same as ay other elected position. Since no one filed an application, the appointed board members will still fill the empty elected seats.
"It's protest season and we're dealing with talking to people about their appraised values and trying to explain that we track market values," said Ector County Chief Appraiser Layne Young. "That's really what we're focused on now is educating the public. People are not aware. So that's one of the things that we want to do is is make people aware of what we’re doing and how we’re doing."
The main thing to know right now is that you can file to run for the publicly elected positions for the appraisal district board. You've got some time to decide if this position is right for you because the next election will not be until November 2026.