Reappraisal plan takes center stage as Tarrant Appraisal District board members are selected

Fourteen people are vying for a spot on the Tarrant Appraisal District’s board of directors. Only five will get a seat at the table. 

The packed field is emblematic of how high-stakes a once unassuming position has become, due in large part to the board’s most controversial decision over the last year: changing its reappraisal plan. 

The board members who led that charge — Matt Bryant, Eric Morris and Callie Rigney — were elected by residents in May. They were the first board members elected through a countywide vote, thanks to a constitutional amendment intended to give everyday people a greater voice on appraisal district boards. 

Traditionally, these boards have been made up exclusively of people appointed by taxing entities, like cities and school districts. The May elections expanded the board — which previously had five appointees — to nine members, including the three electeds and the tax assessor-collector. 

Several months after the newly expanded board gave final approval to a number of reappraisal changes intended to slow property value increases, some of the taxing entity appointees who voted alongside their elected counterparts could find themselves on the outside looking in. 

School districts, in particular, voiced outrage over the changes. They warned value stagnation could wreak havoc on school budgets because of Texas’ complicated school finance formula. 

Now, with all five appointed positions on the board up for grabs, how incumbent board members voted on the reappraisal plan changes could determine whether they make it back for another term. 

Of the five current appointed board members, four secured nominations. Rich DeOtte is the lone incumbent not nominated by a taxing entity. The deadline for taxing entities to nominate a candidate was Oct. 15. The nominees taxing entities will choose from include the following:

• Mike Alfred
  • Current practicing attorney. Previously ran for a seat on the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD school board.
  • Nominated by Colleyville, Keller, Keller ISD, Southlake.
  • Full bio provided by Alfred can be found here.
• Alan Blaylock
  • Current board member and Fort Worth’s District 10 council member. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan. 
  • Nominated by the city of Fort Worth.
  • Full bio provided by Blaylock can be found here.
• Wendy Burgess
  • Current Tarrant County tax-assessor collector. Will leave office at the end of this year after losing the March Republican primary. 
  • Nominated by Castleberry ISD, Northwest ISD, River Oaks.
  • Full bio provided by Burgess can be found here.
• Fred Campos
  • Current Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD school board trustee. Previously spoke out against the impact the reappraisal plan would have on schools.
  • Nominated by Bedford, Godley ISD, HEB ISD, Hurst, Kennedale. 
  • Full bio provided by Campos can be found here.
• Mattie Peterson Compton
  • Former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. 
  • Nominated by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.
  • Full bio provided by Compton can be found here.
• Eric Crile
  • Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. Has expressed reservations about the reappraisal plan. 
  • Nominated by Haltom City, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, Lake Worth ISD, Tarrant County College, Watauga. 
  • Full bio provided by Crile can be found here. 
• Daryl Davis
  • Current Crowley ISD school board trustee. 
  • Nominated by Bedford, Godley ISD, Hurst, Kennedale. 
  • Full bio provided by Davis can be found here.
• Phyllis Grissom
  • Previously served on several Northwest ISD committees and the Fort Worth Library Advisory Board.
  • Nominated by Bedford, EMS ISD, Godley ISD, Hurst, Northwest ISD.
  • Full bio provided by Grissom can be found here. 
• Lee Henderson
  • Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. ​​Public policy strategist and former software engineer. Has expressed concern about the reappraisal plan.
  • Nominated by Crowley ISD and the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. 
  • Full bio provided by Henderson can be found here.
• Scott Lindgren
  • Former director of field operations for AT&T. Has expressed concern about the reappraisal plan’s impact. 
  • Nominated by Haltom City.
  • Full bio provided by Lindgren can be found here.
• Gary Losada
  • Current board member. Previously served on the Tarrant Appraisal Review Board. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan. 
  • Nominated by Burleson, Keller ISD, Lakeside, North Richland Hills, Southlake.
  • Full bio provided by Losada can be found here. 
• Gloria Peña
  • Current board member. Former Arlington ISD board member and president. Voted against the final reappraisal plan. 
  • Nominated by Arlington ISD, Bedford, Fort Worth ISD, Godley ISD, Hurst, Kennedale.
  • Full bio provided by Peña can be found here.
• Vince Puente
  • Current board member. Co-owner and president of marketing and sales for Southwest Office Systems Inc. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan.
  • Nominated by Haslet, Keller ISD, North Richland Hills.
  • Full bio provided by Puente can be found here.
• Sayeda Syed
  • Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. Has expressed concerns over the legality of the reappraisal plan.
  • Nominated by Bedford, Colleyville, Crowley ISD, Fort Worth ISD, Godley ISD, Haslet, Haltom City, Hurst, Kennedale, Lakeside, Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Tarrant County College, White Settlement. 
  • Full bio provided by Syed can be found here.

Each entity has an assigned number of votes, and they don’t have to give them all to one candidate; it is not unusual for a taxing entity to split their vote total among several candidates. 

The city of Fort Worth was the first to vote when it cast all of its 660 votes for Alan Blaylock, the District 10 council member who is currently serving on the appraisal district board. 

Of all the taxing entities, Fort Worth has the largest number of votes, followed by Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County College and Tarrant County. 

School districts as a whole have 2,644 votes, while other taxing entities have 2,354. 

“We need people that understand, or at least have a basic understanding of the way that the school funding formula works, and how the assessed valuations impact the entities that ultimately vote for these individuals to be on the board,” Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, chief financial officer for Fort Worth ISD, said. 

But the incumbent board members who voted for the reappraisal plan remain confident their choice was the right one. Gary Losada, the incumbent who has been most critical of taxing entities’ protesting the reappraisal plan, said he doesn’t have any concerns about his decision impacting his future on the board. 

“There are bigger forces at play that will determine whether I get on the board or not, and quite frankly, if entities as a whole feel I should not be on the board just because of this plan, and they’re not listening to the big picture of it, well, then I should not be on the board,” he said. “But if they make that decision solely on this and not all of what’s gone on in the last year, then they might be a little short-sighted.” 

Existing tensions ratcheted up a notch on Oct. 22, when nominees received a Google Forms survey asking a series of questions designed to assess how the candidates felt about the reappraisal plan. Answers to the questions would be shared with taxing entities during the vote allocation process, according to the survey. 

But many nominees were confused as to who was behind the survey. Less than 24 hours after the email was sent, candidates received a second email, this time from Julie Wooddell, the executive assistant to Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt. 

“You probably received a survey by email today. Please feel free to dismiss this request,” Wooddell said. “Multiple members of the board have thought it may have been an official communication from the district (but) it is not. Chairman Puente asked us to reach out to you and he strongly recommends that you do not participate in the survey.”

The Fort Worth Report reached out to the email address that sent the survey. The group later identified itself as Tarrant Citizens for Responsible Government, and said it was inappropriate for Puente to discourage survey participation, but did not offer any details about its membership. Bobbitt confirmed he did not know who ran the group, either. 

Taxing entities have until Dec. 15 to cast their votes for candidates. The Tarrant Appraisal District is keeping a running tally of vote allocations, which can be viewed here.