Fort Worth ISD school board member Kevin Lynch laid out the hurdles for the district and its community. . . Residents face high property tax bills.
Now, Fort Worth ISD and school districts across Tarrant County face a new appraisal plan that officials anticipate will worsen already . Administrators fear the plan will harm the education of students 鈥� and ultimately the county鈥檚 future, they said.
Fort Worth ISD trustees approved an Aug. 20 resolution denouncing . Trustees also ratified their disapproval of the Tarrant Appraisal District鈥檚 2025 budget, which must receive the thumbs up from a majority of taxing entities. Both votes were 7-2, with Lynch and trustee Michael Ryan dissenting.
needs to change so the district builds a plan that boosts academic achievement rather than bank on financial assumptions that may or may not come, Lynch said.
Ryan voted against both items because he wants to see where the appraisal changes and the district鈥檚 finances land, he said. Officials need to understand what鈥檚 going on first as well as not overburden taxpayers.
The bigger issue for Ryan, a former educator? when it met throughout 2023.
鈥淭he state has dropped the ball on funding the schools,鈥� Ryan said. 鈥淚f they鈥檇 fund it the way they should, as far as our taxing structure, it wouldn鈥檛 be detrimental to people. But I鈥檝e got too many people that I work with that they鈥檙e elderly and they鈥檙e going, 鈥業 can鈥檛 take another increase on my house.鈥欌��
The Tarrant Appraisal District in 2025, reappraise residential properties every two years, and establish a 5% threshold to raise residential values in the future. The appraisal district鈥檚 board of directors expects the policies will reduce the growth of residential property values. Commercial properties are unaffected.
Fort Worth ISD school board President Camille Rodriguez expressed frustration with the appraisal changes.
鈥淚f we have no new revenue for three years, how are we supposed to educate our kids and pay for inflation, supply costs, labor, the regular maintenance with no new money?鈥� Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is not alone in that sentiment.
Leon Fisher, Crowley ISD鈥檚 chief financial officer, that the appraisal plan could have unintended consequences.
鈥淧arents want the tax benefit from this proposal, as well, but they really need to know that it鈥檚 all about education. How will this impact your students鈥� education? It鈥檚 going to have an adverse impact,鈥� Fisher said.
In a two-page letter sent Aug. 15, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD Superintendent Jim Chadwell wrote to Tarrant Appraisal District board members that school districts wanted to work with them to find a solution and mitigate unintended consequences. However, educators鈥� concerns and partnership offers were dismissed, he said.
鈥淲e told you what would happen in our school districts and how it will directly affect students throughout Tarrant County, only to learn that you simply don鈥檛 care,鈥� Chadwell wrote. 鈥淲e learned that either the board is arrogant and doesn鈥檛 think school finance law is complicated, or worse, does not care.鈥�
In an Aug. 13 statement, the reappraisal plan likely will lead to multiple districts losing up to $15 million annually in state funding. Northwest ISD expects to lose up to $10 million annually.
鈥淚n light of the TAD board鈥檚 decision, we cannot help but feel immense sadness for the children of Tarrant County. The future of hundreds of thousands of school children will be negatively impacted by this decision that ignores the harm to our local communities just to keep a short-sighted and uninformed political promise,鈥� Northwest ISD wrote.
Proposals reducing the reappraisal plan鈥檚 impact on school districts failed when the Tarrant Appraisal District board of directors Aug. 9.
鈥淧eople are literally getting taxed out of their homes, and without taxpayers, you don鈥檛 have a school district,鈥� Tarrant Appraisal District board member Callie Rigney said during the meeting. 鈥淪o we have to look out for the taxpayers.鈥�
Chadwell and Northwest ISD do not expect taxpayers will save money because of the appraisal district鈥檚 new policies, both stated.
鈥淭arrant County residential homeowners鈥� tax bills will likely be higher over a three-year period with this new reappraisal plan in place, while school district budgets stand to suffer the strain of reduced state funding,鈥� Northwest ISD officials wrote in a statement. 鈥淎s a result, districts will have to cut teachers or further reduce academic or extracurricular programs, decreasing opportunities for students.鈥�
The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD superintendent pointed to the city of , its first in almost 30 years, as another example of taxpayers not receiving relief.
The delayed reappraisal schedule also harms school districts鈥� ability to issue bonds that will fund the construction of campuses, an effect that particularly impacts high-growth districts like Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Northwest and Crowley ISDs, Chadwell wrote.
鈥淚 hope that we are able to work together now to build a strong, sustainable future for Tarrant County citizens,鈥� Chadwell said, 鈥渋ncluding the youngest citizens among us who require quality schools so that they may achieve at the highest levels and be prepared as tomorrow鈥檚 leaders.鈥�
During the Fort Worth ISD school board meeting, Lynch also emphasized the future and finding the right balance for funding.
Superintendent Ang茅lica Ramsey told Lynch their district likely needs $24,092 per student to adequately fund Fort Worth ISD鈥檚 roughly 70,000 students. The district spent $15,338 per student during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.
The disparity between Ramsey鈥檚 figure, which she , and reality is large, Lynch said.
鈥淎t what point do we make sense of that? Because this seems like, for lack of a better term, a freight train going in the wrong direction,鈥� Lynch said. 鈥淥utcomes drive enrollment and then affordability allows people to live in Fort Worth.鈥�
Fort Worth Report reporters Matthew Sgroi and Emily Wolf contributed.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or . At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
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