Headed into this property tax season, the Texas Legislature sought to give property owners some extra advocates in an appraisal process that’s frustrated so many residents in recent years.
Three newly elected members will join the now nine-member board of directors for the Bexar Appraisal District — overseeing the agency that sets property valuations.
Valuations, which are based on recent selling prices of similar properties in the area, are used to determine how much owners pay in property taxes to various entities whose budgets are funded by property taxes, such as the city, the county and school districts.
Many appraisal districts across Texas have drawn criticism because their boards have been made up of representatives of such taxing entities, along with a county’s elected tax assessor-collector, who serves in an ex officio capacity.
A higher-than-expected valuation can create the false appearance that a taxing entity is angling to collect more money, said Michael Berlanga, a San Antonio accountant who helps people challenge their valuations.
“I call it the shell blame game,” Berlanga said. “The [state] comptroller issues the property value study, and the chief appraisers are the scapegoats.”
To help address that concern, the Texas Legislature created the new at-large board members, three in each appraisal district with populations over 75,000, who will join the boards’ existing members.
In the Bexar Appraisal District, the three newcomers and the six existing members will approve the agency’s budget and oversee the chief appraiser and the taxpayer liaison.
One big change
The tax law that created the additional board members also added one big responsibility to the board’s role: overseeing the body that hears and determines challenges to property valuations, called the Appraisal Review Board (ARB).
Property owners who receive a valuation in the mail that doesn’t match reality can appeal it by presenting evidence that their valuation should be lower, such as a lack of renovations or low sales prices of similar nearby homes.
The vast majority of appeals are settled through an informal conference between the property owner and an appraiser, but another option is a meeting with the Appraisal Review Board, which Berlanga called the “courthouse of independent citizens.”
“The appraisal district issues a notice of value and if you don’t agree with that, after your informal [conference], you can go in front of this Appraisal Review Board,” Berlanga said. “It’s an independent citizen board, whose members are not hired by the county appraisal district, to create the element of separation.”
In the past, people who wanted to serve on the 50-member ARB board applied and were selected by a local administrative judge. They’re paid to work up to 40 hours per week, June through September, when appeals are typically heard.
Going forward, some candidates for the Bexar Appraisal District board saw the new power over those positions as a place to start making the agency more responsive to taxpayers.
“My platform is very, very simple: I’m going to initiate report cards every time you go before [the review board],” said G.L. “Larry” Lamborn, who ran unsuccessfully for Place 3 on the board. “They are going to have to answer to you, [and] to be polite.”
Berlanga, who represents clients across Texas, said the quality of review boards varies greatly among counties, and some could certainly use the help.
But Bexar County already has a strong taxpayer liaison to help with disputes between property owners and the ARB, he said. The county also has some of the most taxpayer-friendly policies in the state, such as allowing property owners to request the evidence used to determine their valuation with the check of a box.
“Bexar County is the gold standard,” Berlanga said. “We may not like the values, but the standard at which we’re allowed to protest our values is pretty high.”
How the new positions will work
Elected appraisal board members will be sworn in at a July board meeting.
After this first year, they’ll be elected on the November ballot and serve staggered four-year terms.
To get them on that schedule, the first thee officeholders will draw lots to determine who gets an abbreviated first term. That position will be up for reelection in 2026. The other two will be up in 2028.
Newly elected members won’t have much opportunity to influence who serves on the appeals board hearing appraisal protests this year.
They’ll get to participate in the selection process for new ARB members starting in October. Members of the ARB serve two-year terms, with half of the board up for reappointment each year.
“As the 2025 appointments are the first time the board of directors will be responsible for the process in a number of years, details regarding the process and timeline are still being developed,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, the district’s communications director.
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), who represents the city as an appointed member of the board, said she was optimistic that the new elected positions would help cut down on some of the confusion about the appraisal district.
“I think we will have the opportunity to engage more members in subcommittees to help with strategies about communicating with our residents,” she said.
