Summary of the Video

Y'all screwed up. Plain and simple.
That is how I opened my remarks to the Tarrant Appraisal District Board of Directors last month, pointing out how their mistake could cause 40 Castleberry ISD teachers to lose their jobs among other financial damages. Watch the video above to get the entire scoop. If you only have a minute, you can get a fraction of what I cover in the video below including how the TAD board’s actions also exposed how Texas’ property tax system is unconstitutional. 

THE CONSTITUTION SAYS ONE THING… REALITY DOES ANOTHER

Article 8, Section 1-e of the Texas Constitution could not be more clear:

“State ad valorem taxes prohibited. No state ad valorem tax shall be levied upon any property within this state.”

Sounds great. The tax office sends a bill, you write a check and expect your money to fund your county, school district and other services in your community. Yet, have you ever tracked those dollars after they leave your bank account? In many school districts, a chunk NEVER stays local. It is swept into the state’s school funding system, also known as the recapture “Robin Hood” program that’s routed through Austin and disbursed how the state wants to spend it.  

If your tax money bypasses the local school district and goes directly to the state, what does that look like to you? To me, that looks like a state property tax. 

THE SHELL GAME: PROPERTY VALUE × TAX RATE = YOUR BILL

Digging deeper, I’ve learned our property tax system exists to prop up public school funding. 

When cities and counties have funding issues, they fix the problems locally because they don’t have to give the tax dollars to the state first. The money is in fact a local property tax. 

School funding issues, however, can’t be solved locally because the money must pass through the state, which decides how much gets distributed to the school district. That’s a state property tax. The organizational structure of the whole system is like the hierarchy of the mafia: 

• Legislature - the godfather sets the rules
• Texas Education Agency - the consigliere enforces them
• Comptroller - the muscle that keeps the appraisal districts in line
• Appraisal districts - the foot soldiers jacking up values
• School boards - the shopowners who appear to be in charge but in reality just follow orders with tax rates 

TAXPAYER REPS ARRIVE… THEN TRIP THE WIRE

The appraisal district boards across the state are made up of members who are appointed by the local taxing entities. The more money a taxing entity raises, the more votes it’s allotted when an “election” is held to determine who sits on the appraisal district board. Rich taxing entities get power over poor ones. Bureaucrats who spend big get more influence and power than fiscally responsible elected officials. Disgusting, yet absolutely true.

(Side rant: Don’t be fooled by the local politician who brags about lowering tax rates while blaming your higher tax bill on the appraisal district that hiked values. Only the no-new-revenue rate cuts are honest and truly stop us from being taxed more.) 

After years of taxpayers raising cane, state lawmakers added three new board seats in every major county, giving voters the first chance to select representation last year. Hallelujah. In Tarrant, they campaigned on freezing values to give homeowners a breather. 

They meant well, but the freeze triggered a land mine called the Comptroller’s Property Value Study (PVS), and the domino effect blew up Castleberry ISD’s budget. If a school district’s values fall below 85.5% of market, the state withholds millions from the school district immediately.

Countywide, values rose 2% last year, so a freeze in values didn’t hurt everyone. But a few hot sales skewed Castleberry’s numbers to fail the property value study threshold. Result: the state will yank $3.5 million - enough to defund an entire elementary campus. Forty teachers will be terminated while every taxpayer still pays the full bill. The Robin Hood money simply will stay in Austin. This is the smoking gun that exposes how our property tax system is unconstitutional. We pay. The state receives. It’s a state property tax. 

TEACHERS VS STADIUMS 

When I hear a school district complain about being broke but still building a stadium, I have a hard time being compassionate about its money woes. I thought, surely they aren’t being that irresponsible and brazen to keep asking for more of my mone 

I’m so glad I dug deeper to figure out what I was missing. The state dictates that school districts divide their funding into two buckets. The state tells them how much money they must deposit into each bucket and they dictate what they’re allowed to spend the money on. They pay salaries and utilities out of one bucket. The other bucket is to fund construction of buildings, including stadiums. A school district can be rich enough to build a stadium and simultaneously completely out of money for teachers. 

Castleberry ISD’s crisis lives in bucket one. 

TWO WAYS OUT OF THIS MESS

I see two technical lifelines. Both require the Comptroller’s cooperation, so our voices matter.

1. FILE A 403.303 PVS PROTEST

Government Code 403.303 lets a district challenge the Comptroller’s numbers. Castleberry ISD and any property owner with a tax bill over $100,000 can file a protest. I pulled every Castleberry parcel above $4 million so you know whose door to knock on if you want to try to get a heavy hitter involved. Simply filing a protest buys breathing room while the protest continues through informal reviews, formal hearings and a final ruling in August 2026.

2. DEMAND A TARGETED REAPPRAISAL UNDER TAX CODE 25.18

A school board may pass a resolution forcing the appraisal district to reappraise all property inside its boundaries. The good news: the value increases produced for that reappraisal cannot be used for taxation. If the comptroller cooperates, the values can be used solely for the PVS, plugging the hole without raising anyone’s bill. To pull this off we need an emergency rule from the Comptroller authorizing submission of a supplemental roll for study-only purposes. The Administrative Procedure Act allows emergency rules when public welfare is in peril. Forty teachers and a constitutional funding mandate would surely qualify.

CALL TO ACTION

This crisis began with the TAD Board of Directors. It will end only if enough people politely but firmly ask the Comptroller to act. Send a short email: “Please do the right thing for Castleberry ISD.” Encourage your state senator, state representative, and anyone that has a position of authority or influence to do the same. Numbers matter.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

Nearly half of all tax dollars statewide fund our public education system that educates 80% of Texas kids. Fire 40 teachers in Castleberry today, overflow the classrooms tomorrow, and the same dominoes tip toward your kids and your district next. 

Waiting for Austin to fix it guarantees nothing. Speaking up locally still works.

LAST WORDS FROM THE FRONT LINE

Castleberry Superintendent Renee Smith-Faulkner told lawmakers what a loss of $3.5 million would mean for her district:

“That is eighteen percent of our staff. Our elementary schools are already near capacity.”

Teachers did not cause this. Homeowners did not cause this. A mistake by the TAD board did cause this. Let us plug it before more campuses pay the price.

Please send that email. Share this article. Fixing Castleberry fixes a precedent that protects us all.