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livingdebDon't skip this boring-sounding election! Scroll down for candidates.
What's Up
The 50 most populous Texas counties are having an election on May 4 to elect 3 county appraisal district board of director members for 4-year terms. Previously members were appointed, and if your district has more than 3 members, the others will still be appointed, but part of last year's property tax relief proposition implements this change.
Three main entities are involved in property taxes: 1) The tax assessor-collector - This elected official is in charge of county taxes and services. 2) The taxing entities (cities, school districts, etc.) - They set the tax rates. 3) The appraisal district - They assess property values--they don't say what property "should" be worth, but try to predict what it would actually sell for if it were on the market.
The appraisal district includes 1) a review board (citizens that hear protests and correct errors) and 2) a board of directors. Those (unpaid) directors appoint the members of the review board, including hiring the chief appraiser.
What has changed is that a) three of the directors will now be elected and b) review board members have to be approved both by a majority of the directors *and* a majority of the elected directors. So it takes only two elected directors to veto any review board appointments.
Why the change? Supposedly this makes the appraisal board more accountable to taxpayers, but what was the problem? Per The Texas Tribune's Texans will face another election after approving property tax cuts, the author of the bill (state Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston) said it was in response to taxpayer concerns, but 'board members don’t make decisions regarding property values, which is the issue voters primarily complain about according to Bettencourt.'
I see red flags:
1) Their terms start on January 1st, but the election is being held in May rather than including it in November's election. That increases the cost, which has to be covered by property taxes. And May elections usually have fewer voters with a higher proportion of Republican voters than November elections have.
2) The directors serve staggered 4-year terms yet all three are on this year's ballot (thus, not staggered).
3) These boards are supposed to be nonpartisan yet parties have recruited candidates for these offices. You will *not* see their parties on the ballot.
The Austin Chronicle has published more suspicions:
'Pooja Sethi, the newly elected chair of Travis County’s Democratic Party, did not mince words about the stakes of the May election. “It could impact how our schools are funded, access to our parks and libraries, and the ability for our cities and counties to provide services and amenities residents depend on,” said Sethi, who also serves as chief of staff to state Rep. Vikki Goodwin.
'...the two Republican candidates who have filed in this race have lengthy public records opposing taxation and government spending (except on policing). Both declined interviews with the Chronicle. One of the liberal candidates, Daniel Wang, put Democrats’ concerns simply: “The GOP wants to defund local government. Screwing up the appraisal process is one way they could achieve that goal.”
'...state Rep. Gina Hinojosa warned that it could be part of the Texas GOP’s broader attack on the state’s property tax system. .... “In Travis County, we run the risk of the chaos agents who run things at the Legislature having a hand in how we make local decisions related to funding for public schools, parks, and libraries"'
The Chronicle also says, 'The three Democrat-backed candidates share strikingly similar campaign platforms that promise to ensure the work at TCAD remains fair and accurate.'
Per vote411.org, only the Democrats have campaign pages, but it's clear that the party has helped them out with these because they all have the same basic design, though with some differences. Only the Democrats have submitted election finance reports. All but Bill May submitted answers to vote411.org, but I preferred The Austin Monitor's Democrats vs. Republicans: First election coming for Travis Central Appraisal District board for seeing what the candidates are really like. I also looked at Community Impact.
I'm voting for the candidates who want to make sure valuations are as accurate as possible, fairly done. I'm not voting for the candidates who are there to try to make Austin more affordable--pretending that property would sell for less than it really would, in order to help homeowners save money on their property taxes, creates a deficit that would be discovered by the state auditors leading to things becoming even more expensive. (Per The Chronicle, 'Regularly, the Texas comptroller conducts an audit known as the Property Value Study to assess the accuracy of a district’s appraisals. If “local values” in Travis County are more than 5% off from “state values,” the comptroller can make Austin ISD pay the state more money into the recapture system.')
The Candidates
Place 1
Jett Hanna - Democrat, has been a member of the appraisal board before, wants to avoid bias in assessing property values.
Don Zimmerman - Republican, has been a city council member. Thinks appraisals should be biased toward the tax payers, not the tax receivers. He says, 'Taxes are unaffordable because spending is driven by bureaucrat greed, not taxpayer needs.' It's the taxing entities that decide the tax rates, so he's in the wrong place for his goals. Also, he thinks Progressives worship 'almighty government.'
He also says, 'Voters should know that Don Zimmerman is the only elected official they've ever heard of who made good on a political campaign promise not to merely reduce a property tax, but to eliminate it.'
My vote: Jett Hanna
Place 2
Matt Mackowiak - Republican, anti-tax, Travis County Republican Party chair and Save Austin Now co-founder. Austin Monthly has a painful article on him, though he's only a jerk because he's so passionate. (I admit I didn't read the whole thing.)
Jonathan Patschke - Libertarian, treasurer for the Travis County Libertarian Party, and software developer. Wants to 'improve the fairness and efficiency of the appraisal process.' He'd 'like to challenge TCAD to explore new options for obtaining valuation data and for analyzing final valuations to screen-out noise and bias.'
Shenghao "Daniel" Wang - Democrat, former state employee. Wants appraisals to be fair and accurate, and wants those listening to taxpayer appeals to impartially weigh evidence from both sides. 'I hope to make TCAD much more transparent and improve its public communication about what it does, how it does it, and what taxpayers can expect."
My vote: Edited to ad that I voted for Shenghao "Daniel" Wang on the assumption that the Democratic party was better at finding good candidates and supporting them. Unlike Patschke, who I also considered voting for, he does have a website and has submitted a finance report.
Place 3
Bill May - He has no public campaign materials and has not answered the 411.org's questionnaire. Literally all I can find on him is here: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/04/democrats-vs-republicans-first-election-coming-for-travis-county-appraisal-district-board/. 'One of the most important ways of tackling affordability in area of the state of Texas is making sure there is a fair and understandable method to determine the valuation of real estate.' That makes no sense. Knowing the real value doesn't reduce it.
Dick Lavine - Democrat, has been a director before, appointed by AISD. Wants to 'appoint people who would give property owners a fair hearing and arrive at an accurate result.' When hiring a Chief Appraiser, he'd want someone like now-retired Marya Crigler, who 'had deep knowledge and experience in the appraisal process, was dedicated to reaching out to inform the community of their rights and promoted high morale among her staff.'
My vote: Dick Lavine
Bonus opinions from commenters on a reddit question:
Place 1 - 'DZ has demonstrated a profound lack of understanding when it comes to how property tax rates work. Anybody but him.'
Place 2 - 'Poor Matt was riding high off his success with Prop B till the state pulled the rug out from under him and since then he's just not had much luck at the polls.'
Place 3 - 'Dick Lavine in place 3 is a great guy and has long been involved in helping people understand how abstract governmental finance issues actually impact their real lives. https://everytexan.org/dick-lavine-2/'
What's Up
The 50 most populous Texas counties are having an election on May 4 to elect 3 county appraisal district board of director members for 4-year terms. Previously members were appointed, and if your district has more than 3 members, the others will still be appointed, but part of last year's property tax relief proposition implements this change.
Three main entities are involved in property taxes: 1) The tax assessor-collector - This elected official is in charge of county taxes and services. 2) The taxing entities (cities, school districts, etc.) - They set the tax rates. 3) The appraisal district - They assess property values--they don't say what property "should" be worth, but try to predict what it would actually sell for if it were on the market.
The appraisal district includes 1) a review board (citizens that hear protests and correct errors) and 2) a board of directors. Those (unpaid) directors appoint the members of the review board, including hiring the chief appraiser.
What has changed is that a) three of the directors will now be elected and b) review board members have to be approved both by a majority of the directors *and* a majority of the elected directors. So it takes only two elected directors to veto any review board appointments.
Why the change? Supposedly this makes the appraisal board more accountable to taxpayers, but what was the problem? Per The Texas Tribune's Texans will face another election after approving property tax cuts, the author of the bill (state Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston) said it was in response to taxpayer concerns, but 'board members don’t make decisions regarding property values, which is the issue voters primarily complain about according to Bettencourt.'
I see red flags:
1) Their terms start on January 1st, but the election is being held in May rather than including it in November's election. That increases the cost, which has to be covered by property taxes. And May elections usually have fewer voters with a higher proportion of Republican voters than November elections have.
2) The directors serve staggered 4-year terms yet all three are on this year's ballot (thus, not staggered).
3) These boards are supposed to be nonpartisan yet parties have recruited candidates for these offices. You will *not* see their parties on the ballot.
The Austin Chronicle has published more suspicions:
'Pooja Sethi, the newly elected chair of Travis County’s Democratic Party, did not mince words about the stakes of the May election. “It could impact how our schools are funded, access to our parks and libraries, and the ability for our cities and counties to provide services and amenities residents depend on,” said Sethi, who also serves as chief of staff to state Rep. Vikki Goodwin.
'...the two Republican candidates who have filed in this race have lengthy public records opposing taxation and government spending (except on policing). Both declined interviews with the Chronicle. One of the liberal candidates, Daniel Wang, put Democrats’ concerns simply: “The GOP wants to defund local government. Screwing up the appraisal process is one way they could achieve that goal.”
'...state Rep. Gina Hinojosa warned that it could be part of the Texas GOP’s broader attack on the state’s property tax system. .... “In Travis County, we run the risk of the chaos agents who run things at the Legislature having a hand in how we make local decisions related to funding for public schools, parks, and libraries"'
The Chronicle also says, 'The three Democrat-backed candidates share strikingly similar campaign platforms that promise to ensure the work at TCAD remains fair and accurate.'
Per vote411.org, only the Democrats have campaign pages, but it's clear that the party has helped them out with these because they all have the same basic design, though with some differences. Only the Democrats have submitted election finance reports. All but Bill May submitted answers to vote411.org, but I preferred The Austin Monitor's Democrats vs. Republicans: First election coming for Travis Central Appraisal District board for seeing what the candidates are really like. I also looked at Community Impact.
I'm voting for the candidates who want to make sure valuations are as accurate as possible, fairly done. I'm not voting for the candidates who are there to try to make Austin more affordable--pretending that property would sell for less than it really would, in order to help homeowners save money on their property taxes, creates a deficit that would be discovered by the state auditors leading to things becoming even more expensive. (Per The Chronicle, 'Regularly, the Texas comptroller conducts an audit known as the Property Value Study to assess the accuracy of a district’s appraisals. If “local values” in Travis County are more than 5% off from “state values,” the comptroller can make Austin ISD pay the state more money into the recapture system.')
The Candidates
Place 1
Jett Hanna - Democrat, has been a member of the appraisal board before, wants to avoid bias in assessing property values.
Don Zimmerman - Republican, has been a city council member. Thinks appraisals should be biased toward the tax payers, not the tax receivers. He says, 'Taxes are unaffordable because spending is driven by bureaucrat greed, not taxpayer needs.' It's the taxing entities that decide the tax rates, so he's in the wrong place for his goals. Also, he thinks Progressives worship 'almighty government.'
He also says, 'Voters should know that Don Zimmerman is the only elected official they've ever heard of who made good on a political campaign promise not to merely reduce a property tax, but to eliminate it.'
My vote: Jett Hanna
Place 2
Matt Mackowiak - Republican, anti-tax, Travis County Republican Party chair and Save Austin Now co-founder. Austin Monthly has a painful article on him, though he's only a jerk because he's so passionate. (I admit I didn't read the whole thing.)
Jonathan Patschke - Libertarian, treasurer for the Travis County Libertarian Party, and software developer. Wants to 'improve the fairness and efficiency of the appraisal process.' He'd 'like to challenge TCAD to explore new options for obtaining valuation data and for analyzing final valuations to screen-out noise and bias.'
Shenghao "Daniel" Wang - Democrat, former state employee. Wants appraisals to be fair and accurate, and wants those listening to taxpayer appeals to impartially weigh evidence from both sides. 'I hope to make TCAD much more transparent and improve its public communication about what it does, how it does it, and what taxpayers can expect."
My vote: Edited to ad that I voted for Shenghao "Daniel" Wang on the assumption that the Democratic party was better at finding good candidates and supporting them. Unlike Patschke, who I also considered voting for, he does have a website and has submitted a finance report.
Place 3
Bill May - He has no public campaign materials and has not answered the 411.org's questionnaire. Literally all I can find on him is here: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/04/democrats-vs-republicans-first-election-coming-for-travis-county-appraisal-district-board/. 'One of the most important ways of tackling affordability in area of the state of Texas is making sure there is a fair and understandable method to determine the valuation of real estate.' That makes no sense. Knowing the real value doesn't reduce it.
Dick Lavine - Democrat, has been a director before, appointed by AISD. Wants to 'appoint people who would give property owners a fair hearing and arrive at an accurate result.' When hiring a Chief Appraiser, he'd want someone like now-retired Marya Crigler, who 'had deep knowledge and experience in the appraisal process, was dedicated to reaching out to inform the community of their rights and promoted high morale among her staff.'
My vote: Dick Lavine
Bonus opinions from commenters on a reddit question:
Place 1 - 'DZ has demonstrated a profound lack of understanding when it comes to how property tax rates work. Anybody but him.'
Place 2 - 'Poor Matt was riding high off his success with Prop B till the state pulled the rug out from under him and since then he's just not had much luck at the polls.'
Place 3 - 'Dick Lavine in place 3 is a great guy and has long been involved in helping people understand how abstract governmental finance issues actually impact their real lives. https://everytexan.org/dick-lavine-2/'