2 new members join Tarrant Appraisal District board. Here’s what we know.

The Tarrant Appraisal District board of directors gained two new members at the first meeting of the year. One is the previous president of the Mansfield school board, and the other is a fireman who serves on his homeowner association.

Keziah Farrar, who served four years on the Mansfield ISD board, fills the place of Alan Blaylock, who resigned in November after announcing his candidacy for Texas House District 93. Farrar lost a school board reelection bid last year. She had received the endorsements of the Keep Tarrant Red PAC, Patriot Mobile Action and True Texas Project.

Farrar was appointed by the TAD board of directors in what was criticized by a few meeting attendees as a rushed vote on Dec. 30. Her term will expire on Dec. 31, 2027.

Fireman Eric Crile is a familiar face at TAD board meetings, as he has attended almost every one in recent years. He is also the person who discovered the incongruity in the 2024 TAD election that was recently investigated after it was brought to the attention of the board by one of Crile’s opponents.

Crile will serve until Dec. 31, 2029.

As the TAD board has been wrought with politics in recent years, Crile said he is hoping to ensure the board’s discussions about pending decisions are made in public and that the chief appraiser, who is the in-house leader of the appraisal district, can operate without “undue interference” from the board.

“Some of the most consequential decisions in the last year and a half have been made without a whole bunch of discussion,” Crile said. “And so that’s why I listed transparency at the top of my list.”

Crile is also a proponent of annual appraisals, which would mean home values would change with the market each year. In 2024, the TAD board opted to change the frequency of property valuations from yearly to every other year. Without the guaranteed revenue increase from rising property values, cities and school districts have had to raise tax rates.

Farrar did not immediately respond to requests for comment .