Filing for three elected seats on Texas appraisal district boards opens July 18. Voters in counties of 75,000 or more choose the directors on the Nov. 3 ballot, in the second such election since 2023, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
The boards govern the agencies that value property for taxes in dozens of the state’s largest counties. The first election in May 2024 drew turnout as low as 2% in Harris County, the state’s largest, according to Texas Public Radio.
Senate Bill 2, passed in 2023, sets each board at nine members: five appointed by participating taxing units, three elected at large, and the county assessor-collector serving ex officio (Tax Code Sec. 6.0301). Elected directors serve staggered four-year terms.
The seats moved from the May ballot to the November ballot after 2024. Directors elected Nov. 3, 2026, take office Jan. 1, 2027.
Two 2025 laws change how candidates file. House Bill 3575 moves the ballot application from the county judge to the county clerk or elections administrator. House Bill 148 requires candidates to sign an “Acknowledgement of Director’s Duties” and file it with the chief appraiser.
The window runs through 5 p.m. Aug. 17. Candidates run as independents. The fee is $400 in counties of 200,000 or more and $200 in smaller counties, or a petition. The withdrawal deadline is Aug. 24.
The boards hire the chief appraiser and adopt the district’s annual budget. Those choices affect how values are set and contested countywide.
Turnout in 2024 ran about 2% in Harris, 3% in Bexar, 5% in Dallas and 6% in Travis, Texas Public Radio reported. A chief appraiser told the outlet there is “a fundamental misunderstanding of how the system works.”
The elected seats came out of SB 2’s property tax package, according to Texas Tribune, which voters reinforced through related constitutional amendments.
Filing runs July 18 to Aug. 17. The three seats appear on the Nov. 3 ballot in counties of 75,000 or more. Smaller counties keep appointed boards.