Tarrant Appraisal District extends property value protest deadline to May 30

Officials at the Tarrant Appraisal District have extended the deadline for Tarrant County residents to protest their property values from May 15 to May 30. The decision came after many residents were having issues with the TAD’s website, including pages that were locking up, failing to download or timing out as they were attempting to complete the protest process.

Keller Mayor Armin Mizani, who, along with the rest of the Keller City Council, recently led the charge to recall former TAD Chair Kathryn Wilemon, penned a letter to Jeff Law, executive director at TAD, calling the situation “inexcusable.”

“Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers throughout Tarrant County have received their 'blue' property value notices, yet most taxpayers attempting to file their protest online have been unable to do so as a result of deficiencies with the TAD website—which has not been fully functional since November 2022,” Mizani wrote.

He stated TAD’s website does not provide the option for automated market reviews—a tool that not only many taxpayers throughout Tarrant County depend on but one that is required by state law.

While offering a deadline extension is what Mizani called a “step in the right direction,” he also called out TAD for not being able to fix its website issues that affect taxpayer rights.

“Taxpayers should not be on the hook for TAD's inability to safeguard its website functions,” Mizani said. “That is why we felt it was necessary to request a protest extension on behalf of all taxpayers."

Southlake Mayor John Huffman joined Mizani is his critique of TAD and the property tax protest extension.

“Taxpayers in Southlake and across Tarrant County have once again been blindsided by massive, out-of-control appraisal increases from TAD with no relief in sight,” Huffman said. “For TAD to not have adequate IT support to handle our citizens’ appraisal protests is unconscionable. While it is my hope that TAD’s 15-day extension is enough time to remedy the issues at hand, my expectation is that—should further problems arise—TAD will continue to offer extensions as appropriate.”