Nominations to Appraisal Review Boards

[Colleen Pate]

Council:

Last year was the first year of a new process for selecting the Board of Directors of Appraisal Review Boards in Texas under the new process, some of the board positions are elected by voters. For Williamson and Travis Counties, there are five members that are appointed by various local taxing jurisdictions, including the City of Austin. Austin has the authority to formally recommend two candidates to serve on the boards of the two different appraisal districts – the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) and the Williamson Central Appraisal District (WCAD). Twenty-three other jurisdictions are involved in Travis County (twenty-four in Williamson County) and have the ability to vote on these positions. There are nine positions total on the TCAD and nine total for WCAD.

The Austin City Council has votes that it can divide among a number of nominees. Our number of votes is determined by the Chief Appraiser based upon Austin’s share of the property taxes. Our votes, when combined with the votes of other jurisdictions, determines the outcome of the election(s). For WCAD, Members of the Board appointed by the taxing units serve staggered four-year terms beginning on January 1 of every other even-numbered year. For the 2026 year, two members will be elected to fill a four-year term. For TCAD, the nominees who receive the three highest number of votes will be appointed to 3-year terms. The nominees who receive the next two highest number of votes will be appointed to 1-year terms.

I have put forth an IFC nominating Deborah Cartwright and Bruce Elfant as the City’s nominees for the TCAD Board of Directors. After thoughtful consideration, I recommend that we do not make a nomination for WCAD. The two people elected last year that drew 1-year terms will be nominated again this year by Williamson County and Round Rock ISD. The Council will have the opportunity weigh in when we receive our ballot next month.

Deborah Cartwright was nominated and elected to the TCAD Board last year. She was a nominee of AISD and the City of Elgin. She drew a one-year term. Bruce Elfant, the former Travis County Tax Assessor- Collector, would be a new member of TCAD. I am inviting co-sponsors of the IFC to support these nominations for the Board positions.

I have included bios of each of the nominees below.

Bruce Elfant Bio (from Travis County Tax Assessor website):
First elected in 2012, Bruce Elfant was the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar until 2025. He previously served 20 years as a county constable.
Elfant focused on customer service, including the expansion and upgrade of online services for customer convenience; assisting property owners with tax payment plans; and initiating public outreach campaigns for consumer education and protection.
A native Texan, Elfant is passionate about citizens participating in civic engagement. He worked tirelessly on voter outreach, training volunteer deputy registrars to register voters, advocating for online voter registration, speaking out for voting rights and reminding county residents it is their patriotic duty to vote.
Elfant is credited for Travis County having the distinction of having the highest voter registration rate among Texas’ urban counties.
When he was Travis County Constable of Precinct 5, Elfant helped to establish Veterans Court, which places veterans into recovery programs instead of jail, and an all-volunteer parking monitor force that reports vehicle owners who illegally park in spaces for persons with disabilities.
Elfant has won numerous awards for his civic and community service, including:
2020 PACESetter Award by the national Property Assessed Clean Energy Nation (PACENation)
2017 Tax Assessor-Collector of the Year by the Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas.
Elected Official of the Year and recipient of the Public Innovation Award from the Central Texas Society of Professional Administrators
Constable of the Year by the Justices of the Peace and Constables Association of Texas
Best Practice Award: Exceptional Delivery of Services by the Texas Association of Counties
Person of the Year by the Women’s Advocacy Project
Partnership Award from the Austin Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities
Elfant is modest about his accolades, preferring to praise others. “It’s not about me,” is one of his favorite sayings.

Deborah Cartwright Bio (from Low Swinney Evans & James, PLLC, website where she is a consultant):
Has had a lengthy career as an attorney and administrator in the field of property taxation. She has both courtroom and appellate experience and has contributed to the jurisprudence of property tax law in Texas. Prior to retirement, Debbie worked with the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, providing legal and legislative counsel during the 85th and 86th sessions of the Texas Legislature. Before that representation, she practiced law with three law firms, served as general counsel for the Bexar Appraisal District, and worked for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Debbie was the director of the Property Tax Assistance Division for Comptroller Susan Combs from 2009 to 2014. She was an assistant general counsel for Comptroller Carol Keeton Strayhorn from 2001 to 2006. In her practice of law, Debbie represented appraisal districts in litigation and provided advice on public law and property tax administration. She received professional awards from the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts and the Texas Rural Chief Appraisers Association. She was the recipient of the Wayne Peveto Award from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center in 2013.
Debbie received her law degree from the University of Houston and a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Her undergraduate degree in secondary education music and history is from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. A native of Elgin, Texas, Debbie served as an officer of the Elgin Historical Association from 2017 through 2019. Debbie is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the International Association of Assessing Officers. She is currently serving on the Travis Central Appraisal Board in a term set to expire December 2025.

In addition to the nomination process, the City will also receive ballots to cast votes for the Board of Directors nominees that other jurisdictions nominate once the appraisal districts have received all nominations in the form of a resolution. Council can expect to see two additional IFCs on the November 20, 2025 City Council Agenda to cast the City’s votes for the TCAD and WCAD board positions.

Some of you will note that Blanca Zamora-Garcia’s name is not included among the TCAD nominees. She was included last year. After many years of serving on the TCAD Board of Directors, Blanca Zamora-Garcia has decided to step down from the Board at the end of her term in December of this year. Most of us consider her to be a friend and celebrate her as someone who has been active, positive, gracious part of our community for some time. She has given a lot to Austin and Travis County. We thank her for her service. She is appreciated.

Thanks,

Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson

[Julie Montgomery]

On behalf of CM Ellis:

Mayor Watson,
Thank you for bringing forward this IFC. I would be happy to cosponsor.
Thanks!
Paige

[Ryan Alter]

Mayor Watson,

Thanks for bringing this forward. I’d be happy to join as a cosponsor as well.

Thanks,

Ryan