Applications for Appraisal Review Board (ARB) members are being accepted by District Judge Robert K. Schaffer, administrative judge for the state district courts in Harris County.
Service on the ARB would begin in January 2022. Applications from Harris County citizens interested in ARB service must be submitted by the applicant directly to Judge Schaffer through the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) human resources division to be considered. Applications from third parties will not be accepted.
Applications will be received starting September 1, 2021, and accepted until vacancies are filled.
The ARB is a citizen board that sits in panels of three to hear testimony and review evidence in order to determine property owner protests which cannot be resolved informally with HCAD. Members will be required to serve at the HCAD offices and will be expected to be prepared and capable of conducting virtual hearings on their personal computer.
The ARB is not part of the appraisal district. If selected to serve on the ARB, the member would not be an employee of HCAD or qualify for benefits. Service on the review board does not constitute a full-time job, but members are compensated per diem when conducting hearings and attending ARB meetings. ARB members are required to attend ARB meetings in addition to serving on panels for actual ARB hearings.
The Harris County ARB conducts hearings throughout the year. However, board service is generally a full-time commitment during the peak hearing season, which runs from mid-May through October. The scheduling volume during this time period requires that members be available to serve all day, every weekday and several Saturdays. ARB members are not always scheduled every day but must be available to serve if needed.
Candidates for the ARB must be current residents of Harris County, having resided in the county for at least two years; must be up to date on property tax payments for property in Texas or show the tax is being paid under an installment agreement; and must not have served all or part of three previous terms as an ARB member. Persons who fall into any of the following categories are not eligible to serve:
- An individual currently employed by the State Comptroller of Public Accounts, or who is a member of the governing body, an officer, or a full- or part-time employee of a county, city, school district, community college district, MUD, or any other entity supported by local property taxes. Former governing body members, or officers of a taxing unit served by HCAD, are ineligiblefor service on the ARB for four full years from the date they ceased to serve in that capacity.
- Anyone who personally, or whose spouse personally, has a contract with local government or an appraisal district. The same restriction applies if the person, or his or her spouse, owns a 10 percent or greater interest in a business which contracts with a local government or appraisal district.
- Persons who have appeared before the ARB for compensation as a tax consultant, accountant, appraiser, or representative of a property owner less than two years before the date the person is appointed.
- A person who has served all or part of three previous terms as a board member or auxiliary board member on the ARB.
- Any individual who has ever been employed by HCAD or has ever served as a member of the district’s board of directors.
- Persons who have served as a member of the governing body or officer of a taxing unit in Harris County until four years after resigning that position.
- Applicants who are presently under indictment or have previously been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
Applicants selected as finalists will be scheduled for interviews. Current application forms are available at www.hcad.org under the “ARB Application” button. Only current application forms from this site will be considered.
Calls requesting information about ARB service requirements should go to 713.957.5265.
Applications should be submitted to:
Electronically:
Please put “To Judge Robert K. Schaffer” in the subject line.
By Mail:
Judge Robert K. Schaffer
c/o HCAD Human Resources Division
P.O. Box 920975
Houston, Texas 77292-0975