Superintendent Mark Foust said Northwest ISD could lose up to $10 million annually in state funding as a result of recent changes the Tarrant Appraisal District made to how it appraises properties.

The details

At the Aug. 13 board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pastusek said TAD proposed changes on Aug. 8 to the way they do business that can affect how cities, hospital districts and school districts receive funding. These changes include:

• Reappraising residential properties every two years instead of the current annual appraisals
• Freezing residential property values for tax year 2024-25 at current property values, except for new construction
• Setting appraisal caps or thresholds of 5% on residential properties, absent clear and convincing evidence or other possible limitations

Changes in how often residential properties are assessed could be challenging for high growth districts such as Northwest ISD, which has grown more than 20% over the last three fiscal years.

District documents state specific negative impacts to the district include:

• Maintenance & operation budgets will not receive full funding in years that properties are not reappraised.
• Interest & sinking budgets will not receive full funding in years that properties are not reappraised.
• Northwest ISD may be required to raise their I&S rates to meet debt obligations, which will then put a higher tax burden not only on Tarrant County taxpayers, but also taxpayers in Denton and Wise counties.

“We’re artificially freezing taxes [in this scenario], so we don’t know what the taxable value truly is, and so taxpayers are going to be even more confused than they already are,” Pastusek said. “It’s pitting school districts and taxpayers against each other.”

Pastusek added that while other taxing entities such as cities and hospital districts can raise their taxes to make up for lost revenue, school districts do not have the ability to do that since the state sets the M&O tax rate.

Zooming in

During a six-plus-hour meeting July 22 at the Arlington ISD Administration Building, TAD board members began discussions to make sweeping changes to the appraisal system. Recently elected board member Matt Bryant cited increases in protests over the past 13 years that were "getting out of hand" as an impetus for changing the system. He said oftentimes those who protest the property value will get the same increase they are protesting the next year.

“This is a broken system,” Bryant said. “Reductions that you agreed upon from the previous year must be factored in.”

Quote of note

Before the Northwest ISD board voted unanimously to disapprove the reappraisal plan, board President Steve Sprowls shared his thoughts about TAD’s actions.

“ISDs are under continuous attack from all sides, and now TAD is going to jump in,” Sprowls said. “We’re already in deficits because of the state’s lack of leadership, but also this is going to reduce our funding for programs, so what are we going to start cutting? I’m really tired of the continuous attacks on public education. It’s time we stand up and fight back.”

Cody Thorn contributed to this report.