Scope of Responsibilities

Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) is a political subdivision of the State of Texas created effective January 1, 1980. The provisions of the Texas Property Tax Code govern the legal, statutory, and administrative requirements of the appraisal district. A five member Board of Directors, appointed by the taxing units within the boundaries of Tarrant County, constitutes the District's governing body. The Tarrant County assessor-collector also serves on the board but is a nonvoting member. The Chief Appraiser, appointed by the Board of Directors, is the chief administrator and chief executive officer of the appraisal district. The chief appraiser is allowed by law to delegate authority and appraisal responsibilities to his employees.

Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) is responsible for local property tax appraisal and exemption administration for seventy-three jurisdictions or taxing units in the county. Each taxing unit, such as the county, a city, school district, municipal utility district, etc., sets its own tax rate to generate revenue to pay for such things as police and fire protection, public schools, road and street maintenance, courts, water and sewer systems, and other public services. Property appraisals are determined by the appraisal district and used by the taxing units to calculate and allocate the annual tax burden. TAD also administers and determines eligibility for various types of property tax exemptions that are authorized by state and local governments, such as those for homeowners, the elderly, disabled persons, disabled veterans, and charitable or religious organizations.

Personnel Resources

The Office of the Chief Appraiser is primarily responsible for overall planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, and controlling all district operations. The district is organized into six primary departments: Administration, Support Services, Information Technology, Residential Appraisal, Commercial Appraisal and Business Personal Property Appraisal. A director heads each department. The Administration Department's function is to plan, organize, direct and control the business support functions related to human resources, budget, finance, records management, purchasing, fixed assets, facilities maintenance and mail service.

The Support Services Department has four divisions that perform various functions including land management (GIS and records management), customer service, exemptions administration and Appraisal Review Board operations. The Information Technology Department consists of various divisions that maintain TAD's Information Technology infrastructure. This area also includes a Data Services division.

Three separate appraisal departments are responsible for the valuation of all real and business personal property. The Commercial Department has three work divisions: Commercial Real Property Appraisal including complex commercial appraisal/abatements, Commercial Research and Reporting and Litigation/Arbitration. Business Personal Property Appraisal includes BPP, research, utilities and minerals. The Residential Department includes Residential Appraisal, Residential Research and an Agricultural Land Valuation section. The 2011 and 2012 adopted budgets will provide information for TAD employee positions and classifications.