Tarrant Appraisal District appoints interim chief appraiser, hires search firm

After several months of turmoil between taxpayers, the Tarrant Appraisal District’s board and comments from public officials in Tarrant County, TAD’s board of directors voted unanimously to appoint William Durham to serve as interim chief appraiser Sept. 18.

The backstory

According to TAD, Durham has served as TAD’s director of commercial appraisals. He takes over for the former embattled chief appraiser Jeff Law, who resigned Sept. 1. His resignation came after several events occurred prior to his resignation:

• Aug. 24: The mayors of Colleyville, Keller and Southlake issued a letter demanding TAD board of directors appoint a new chief appraiser "following a series of scandals that have plagued the agency over the past year."
• Aug. 28: Mansfield City Council took a vote of no confidence against Law.
• Aug. 29: Tarrant County Commissioners unanimously voted to remove Law after a vote of no confidence and called for his replacement.

Quote of note

During the Sept. 18 meeting, Durham spoke about what he will do in order to help the organization move forward.

“I did hear the emotion and the voices from the public, and I want to assure those voices that we may not be perfect here at all times, but there should never be a moment where you question whether you are treated respectfully and fairly,” Durham said. “You deserve to be heard. We’re going to incorporate that feeling to move forward and be the district that the public expects.”

Zooming in

In the Sept. 18 meeting, Chair Tony Pompa said that the board had four possible search firms to conduct the search for the next chief appraiser. According to TAD, the board selected Mackenzie Eason & Associates on Oct. 2.

According to the company’s website, Mackenzie Eason & Associates is based in Fort Worth and has worked with several local public and private entities including:

• Texas Christian University
• City of Fort Worth
• Fort Worth ISD