Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang and Dick Lavine have taken three open seats for the Travis Central Appraisal District’s board of directors, according to unofficial results from the Travis County Clerk’s Office.
Hanna, running for Place 1, received 35,597 votes, or 69.46%. Opponent Don Zimmerman received 15,653 votes, or 30.54%.
“Austin is a great place to live, and I just really grew to appreciate it even more with this campaign,” Hanna told Community Impact. “And as far as the appraisal district is concerned, we just want to do things the right way. Make the appraisal fair, transparent and ethical in every respect.”
Wang, in the running for Place 2, received 34,495 votes, or 67.37%. Opponents Jonathan Patschke and Matt Mackowiak have received 7.64% and 24.99% of votes, respectively.
“I'm looking forward to beginning the next job, which is, now that the campaign is over, learning more about the issues facing our community and helping all of our local governments continue to do the excellent work that they do,” Wang told Community Impact.
Lavine, in the running for Place 3, received 36,574 votes, or 73.03%. Opponent Bill May has received 13,504 votes, or 26.97%.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Posted 8:05 p.m. May 4
Early voting results show Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang and Dick Lavine are in the lead for three seats on the Travis Central Appraisal District’s board of directors.
Hanna, running for Place 1, received 22,452 votes, or 67.8%. Opponent Don Zimmerman received 10,662 votes, or 32.2%.
Wang, in the run for Place 2, received 21,687 votes, or 65.49%. Opponents Jonathan Patschke and Matt Mackowiak received 8.27% and 26.23% of votes, respectively.
Lavine, in the run for Place 3, received 23,214 votes, or 71.76%. Opponent Bill May received 9,135 votes, or 28.24%.
In case you missed it
May 4 marks the first Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors election. The election is for three seats on the board, as the remaining six seats are appointed by local elected officials.
The board is responsible for hiring the chief appraiser, who determines property values in the county. Taxing entities, such as the city of Austin, Travis County and school boards, set tax rates that are applied to those property values. The board also approves the annual budget, approves contracts and sets general policies.
Starting next year, board members will take on a new responsibility appointing members of the Travis Appraisal Review Board, or ARB, an impartial group of residents that mediate disputes between property owners and the appraisal district, according to TCAD.
