Months after passing sweeping changes to its reappraisal plan, the Tarrant Appraisal District board will meet March 12 to discuss whether some of those changes should be walked back. The meeting follows who say the policies could lead to funding cuts.
鈥淭he board will have a work session to discuss, in general, what the plan is and the issues the schools have brought up,鈥� Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt said. After the work session, the board will convene a regular meeting where they can vote on action items.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the agenda drafted yet, so we don鈥檛 know if it will be an action item or not,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just, the board鈥檚 intent right now is to discuss it in our work session.鈥�
In August, the board to freeze residential market values in 2025, switch to a two-year residential appraisal schedule and establish a 5% threshold for raising residential values in the future. Those changes were shepherded by , who argued the district needed to do more to help homeowners.
School districts, however, about the overarching consequences of the plan, including the potential for state funding cuts. The state comptroller鈥檚 office conducts a school district property value study every two years and compares the values it generates with those reported by the local appraisal district. If the local values are too different from the comptroller鈥檚 in a particular school district, that district is in line for funding cuts.
Tarrant鈥檚 residential property value freeze, combined with its biannual schedule, make it more likely that the local appraisal figures won鈥檛 match the state鈥檚. A mock property value study conducted by appraisal staff flagged seven school districts at substantial risk of failing the state鈥檚 property value study.
In a Feb. 3 email, Bobbitt informed Aledo, Azle, Carroll, Castleberry, Everman, Grapevine-Colleyville and Fort Worth ISDs that they were in danger of failing, and said he was 鈥渞ecommending/requesting鈥� the districts pass a resolution asking for reappraisal in their districts. As it stands, the reappraisal plan states that any reappraisal activities require approval from the appraisal district board.
Azle, Castleberry, Everman and Fort Worth ISDs passed resolutions requesting reappraisal. Carroll ISD鈥檚 board president, Cameron Bryan, indicating the district would not request a reappraisal, but would pursue a local value study audit if Carroll fails the state study.
District officials in Fort Worth, Castleberry warn of funding crisis
At the appraisal district board鈥檚 Feb. 26 meeting, Castleberry ISD officials pleaded with board members to reappraise properties in their boundaries. Renee Smith-Faulkner, the district superintendent, warned the district faces a severe funding crisis without adjusted values.
With no adjustment, Castleberry ISD stands to lose $3.5 million in state funding, with no grace period to make budgetary adjustments, she said. That鈥檚 nearly 8% of . The fiscal year for Castleberry, which enrolls more than 3,600 students, begins July 1.
Last year, the district eliminated 40 positions 鈥� amounting to nearly $4 million in budget cuts. Further reductions, she warned, would jeopardize early literacy programs, fine arts, athletics and its The summer school-like initiative was recently featured in the for its impact on improving student outcomes.
鈥淚 urge the board to please reconsider and take action to accurately reappraise these properties that fall significantly below the comptroller鈥檚 property value study and ensure that our schools receive the necessary funding to continue,鈥� Smith-Faulkner said.
Fort Worth ISD Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria warned the board that if their property values are too low, the district could lose between $26 million and $51 million in state funding. That could potentially lead to program and staffing cuts for the 2026-27 school year, she told the Report. The district enrolls just under 70,000 students.
鈥淪o, I think that鈥檚 important, it鈥檚 state money that we鈥檙e losing,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 have to rethink what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Tax consultant suggests policy change to soothe school districts
Chandler Crouch, a prominent tax consultant in Tarrant County and of the appraisal district鈥檚 previous leadership, told the board there is a simple solution to the dispute over the reappraisal plan.
鈥淎ll we鈥檝e got to do to help these guys accomplish the security that they need is to change one policy in that board manual, that (would) guarantee, if they鈥檙e out of compliance, they鈥檒l get reappraised,鈥� Crouch said. 鈥淭he end. They stay home. Bills aren鈥檛 being filed. You guys get to be able to do the every-other-year appraisal.鈥�
Crouch referenced a bill filed by Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, that would 鈥� in effect making Tarrant鈥檚 biannual schedule illegal. That bill was filed, Crouch said, because of the real concern school districts have.
鈥淭hese guys are in a real bad spot. The basic allotment has stayed the same since 2019,鈥� Crouch said, referencing the state鈥檚 stagnant per-student funding. 鈥淭his is the mechanism the state uses to control how much money they get to mess with.鈥�
The appraisal district wouldn鈥檛 know until January 2026 鈥� more than five months after 2025 tax rolls are certified 鈥� if any school district failed the state property value study.
The decision to call a work session came after board members recessed to an hour-long executive session at the Feb. 26 meeting, following the end of public comments.
Previously, board members had targeted their February meeting as the date to make a decision on the reappraisal plan. Property value notices are traditionally mailed out in April, meaning that the window to make any value changes is rapidly closing.
Emily Wolf is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at emily.wolf@fortworthreport.org or @_wolfemily
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or .
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