Filing deadline nears for new elected positions on Hays CAD board
The Hays Central Appraisal District is one of 50 in the state that will now hold an election for three newly created seats on the district’s board of directors and the filing deadline for the new positions is Feb. 16. As of Tuesday afternoon, no candidates have filed for the positions.
Senate Bill 2 made changes to the state of Texas’ tax code, but it also restructured the process for filling the board of directors for the Central Appraisal Districts in the largest counties in the state of Texas.
Currently, the board for CAD from across the state are made up for seven individuals, none of which are elected specifically to be on the board. Hays County Tax Assessor and Collector Jennifer O’Kane is on the board along with appointed representatives from the largest taxing entities in the county. In Hays County, the rest of the board is currently made up of Chairman Joe Castillo, from San Marcos CISD; Vice Chair Jeffrey Aylstock, from Dripping Springs ISD; Secretary Jane Hughson, from the city of San Marcos; Director Nathan Cross, from Wimberley ISD; Director Nora Puente, from Hays CISD and Director Meredith Schawe, from Hays CISD.
The board will now expand to include nine directors, three of which will be elected.
“SB 2 was passed unanimously in the Senate and nearly so in the House using language to make these 3 elected positions non-partisan ones, like school trustees,” Senator Paul Bettencourt, who authored the legislation, said. “By the end of 2024, the CAD governing board will consist of nine board members including the elected tax assessor, five taxing unit positions, and now three new citizen positions which is a balanced CAD board. However, they do not set appraisal district values, that is exclusively the role of the chief appraiser. If you are interested in interviewing ARB members, property valuation in general, or serving your county community, citizen taxpayers should consider filing for this newly elected position.”
The CAD board of directors is responsible for the governance of the district, including the hiring of the chief appraiser, and adopting the CAD’s annual budget. These 3 members will be intricately involved in the interviewing and selecting of the Appraisal Review Board members in each county with a 75,000 population or greater. Two out of three of these newly elected members must approve ARB hirings. ARBs review property valuation appeals filed by taxpayers and decide whether to keep that valuation or change it.
Initially, the directors elected take office on July 1, 2024, and serve a term that expires on December 31, 2026. Following the election of the initial elected directors of an appraisal district on May 4, directors are then elected beginning with the general election conducted in November 2026. Directors then elected take office on January 1, 2027. The elected members of the board will then serve staggered four-year terms beginning on January 1st of every other odd-numbered year. There will be three at-large places elected, and candidates must indicate on their candidate application the atlarge position for which they are running. The winning candidate must receive more than fifty percent of the votes or a runoff election is required.
The filing deadline for candidates running for these unpaid positions in the largest 50 counties in the state of Texas is on February 16. The filing fee for a place on the ballot is $400 for a county with a population of 200,00 or more, which includes Hays County, and $200 for a county with a population between 75,000 and 200,000. Smaller counties are not required to hold such elections.
In addition to Hays County, the 50 most populous counties in Texas are; Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Denton, Hidalgo, El Paso, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Williamson, Cameron, Brazoria, Bell, Nueces, Galveston, Lubbock, Webb, McLennan, Jefferson, Smith, Brazos, Ellis, Johnson, Guadalupe, Midland, Comal, Ector, Parker, Kaufman, Taylor, Randall, Grayson, Wichita, Gregg, Tom Green, Potter, Rockwall, Hunt, Bastrop, Liberty, Bowie, Victoria, Angelina, Orange, Coryell, Henderson and Walker counties.
For additional information on CAD board elections please see the Texas Secretary of State’s Election Advisory: sos. state.tx.us/elections/laws/ advisory2023-24.shtml
