Follow the lead of Vikki Goodwin, our good friend and former state representative for our district. Vote for Hanna, Wang, and Lavine in the May 4th election. Early voting is going on now 7am-7pm at Christ our Savior Lutheran Church on 1431. Read what Vikki says about why this election is so important.
From Vikki Goodwin, State Representative #47, April 25, 2024
There’s just one election on May 4th that’s Travis County-wide—for the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) Board of Directors. For the first time ever, thanks to a new state law, we’ll be voting to elect three directors to the TCAD Board.
What is the TCAD?
The TCAD is the agency here in Travis County responsible for setting fair and accurate property values. The TCAD does not calculate or collect property taxes directly, but provides local government—i.e., cities, counties and school districts—with the determined valuation. This then informs the budgeting process, i.e., how much funding our public schools and public services will receive each year.
What’s at stake?
While local elections, like those for TCAD, are nonpartisan, in practice, that’s not always the case. And it certainly isn’t the case for this race. The four most conservative candidates in this race have all but admitted that if elected to the TCAD Board, they will use the power of their position to undermine fair and equitable assessments in favor of an anti-tax regime that will underfund public education. If TCAD were to undervalue properties, local school districts, in turn, receive less funding—both from collected property taxes and also from state funding sources. For each central Texas school district—Austin, Eanes, Lake Travis, Leander, and Round Rock—falsely low property assessments could result in a loss of millions of dollars in state funds, leaving the public schools in these districts in dire financial straits.
Who I’m endorsing in this election:
I am endorsing Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang, and Dick Lavine—in Places 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
All three of these candidates are the most qualified in their race, and are committed to a fair and equitable assessment process that benefits all of us here in Travis County.
Electing Jett, Daniel, and Dick to the TCAD Board is critical; I hope you’ll join me by voting in the May 4th election and by helping us get the word out about why the TCAD Board elections matter so much.
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