Appointments for the 2020 Appraisal Review Board for the Freestone Central Appraisal District have been made by the district’s board of directors. Members of the board have staggered terms with the prior appointments of M J Alford, Ann Gokey, and alternate member Ron Brokmeyer having terms that expire on December 31, 2020. Reappointed to the ARB for the 2020-2021 term is Wain Glass and Wesley Ratcliff. Eric Samford will be filling the expired term of Deb Manahan for 2020-2021.
The ARB hears and makes determinations on the protests of property owners and makes corrections to the appraisal roll as authorized by the Texas Property Tax Code.
To be qualified to serve on the ARB, a person must have been a resident of the county for at least two years, not own property on which delinquent taxes are owed, not be related by blood or marriage to a paid tax agent or person who appraises property for tax purposes, not hold public office, and not be a board member of the appraisal company or any of the taxing jurisdictions in the county.
New law this year requires the administrative judge in the county to appoint the ARB’s presiding officers. Judge Deborah Oakes Evans has appointed Ann Gokey to serve as the ARB’s 2020 chairman and Wain Glass to serve as the secretary of the ARB.
Reappointed and newly appointed members will take their oaths of office in the ARB’s scheduled meeting on January 16, 2020.
FCAD 2020-2021 Board of Directors
“There will be no change in the membership of the district’s board of directors for 2020-2021,” reports Bud Black, Chief Appraiser for the Freestone Central Appraisal District. Re-elected to sit on the board are Teresa Duke, Craig Dunlap, Sid Fryer, Brownie Utley, and Lovie Whyte. Lisa Foree, as County Tax Assessor/Collector, will continue to serve as a non-voting member.
Every two years, the governing bodies of the various taxing jurisdictions have the opportunity to nominate persons to serve on the board of directors. After the nomination deadline passes, the Chief Appraiser then prepares a ballot and delivers it to those taxing authorities, allowing them the opportunity to cast their votes for one to five of the nominees.
In this election process, a total of five thousand votes are distributed among the eligible taxing jurisdictions. Voting entitlement in this election is determined (by state law) according to amount of taxes levied by each taxing unit as compared to the sum of all taxes levied in the county. The largest share of these votes belonged to Fairfield ISD, followed by Teague ISD and Freestone County. Other schools and cities comprised the remaining votes. Neither Fairfield Hospital nor Teague Hospital Districts are entitled to participate in the election because they are special districts that have no statutory voting entitlement.
The primary responsibility of the board of directors is to govern the district’s financial affairs, to appoint its Chief Appraiser and Appraisal Review Board, and to adopt policies for the district’s operation. It has no authority over the valuation of property.
