Northwest ISD unanimously approves resolution opposing Tarrant Appraisal District's 3-year appraisal freeze

During their regular meeting March 10, the Northwest ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution opposing the Tarrant Appraisal District’s reappraisal plan for residential properties within the district. The plan would essentially freeze residential property values in 2025 to the 2024 values and does not require reappraisal until 2027.

The details

The resolution states several negative factors of the 3-year freeze for both the district and its residents including:

• Making it impossible to accurately appraise residential property for 2025 and 2026
• Not accurately reflecting the prevailing market conditions, given the prevailing market conditions and property value growth in the North Texas region
• It may harm taxpayers because their property taxes will not reflect current home values for 2025, based on actual market conditions
• It may harm taxpayers by result in a spike to homeowners’ property taxes when they are finally appraised in 2027

Since the freeze will not allow NISD to receive full funding in 2025 and 2026, the resolution specifically names negative impacts to the district’s budget, including a possible reduction in state funding, which may cause a potential reduction in student programs and educational opportunities.

What they’re saying

“There are several districts [in Tarrant County] that have been impacted by this decision,” Place 3 Trustee Anne Simpson said. “We hope [this resolution] will send a message of concern.”

Superintendent Mark Foust said that numerous school districts within Tarrant County have already passed similar resolutions requesting the same action.

Board President Steve Sprowls said the resolution is trying to keep any surprises out of the 2025 and 2026 budgets by allowing the district to have timely and accurate financial information.

“Just because the board passes the resolution, doesn’t guarantee [the Tarrant Appraisal District] will respond,” Foust said. “It’s an effort to acknowledge that we feel there’s a reasonable likelihood our taxpayers and our district will be harmed by their reappraisal plan.”

How we got here

According to previous Community Impact reporting, the TAD board approved the reappraisal plan despite objections from numerous school districts during an Aug. 9 meeting in Fort Worth.

The changes that were formally approved in the meeting were voted on during a July 22 special meeting, where the board passed:

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