Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s office said Monday that he did not “script” agenda items that resulted in sweeping changes at the Tarrant County Appraisal District.
The explanation from his office comes two weeks after the Star-Telegram obtained an email exchange that said O’Hare had “scripted” agenda items for a TAD Board of Directors meeting.
Those items were on the agenda for the July 22 meeting, when the TAD board voted to change t he frequency of property valuations from yearly to every other year and approved a 5% “threshold” on recalculated appraisals of a property’s market value.
In an email sent July 17, newly elected TAD board member Matt Bryant told fellow elected member Callie Rigney: “Please consider revising the agenda items to what Tim O scripted below. I like what Tim D put together, but feel we should resubmit what Tim O came up with, and we need to add the ‘freeze’ agenda item.”
The Star-Telegram reported Aug. 16 that two tax attorneys said O’Hare’s actions could run afoul of the state Property Tax Code, which makes certain communications by members of a governing body for the purpose of influencing values for property appraisals a misdemeanor offense.
At the time, O’Hare’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, but his attorney emailed the newspaper stating “your proposed false statement that he is guilty of criminal conduct” would constitute libel if published.
Bryant wrote in an email at the time he is neither a TAD employee nor the chief appraiser, and that O’Hare’s actions did not violate the law. “The notion that a crime has been committed is preposterous,” he said. “This is a defamatory allegation, completely unfounded and without merit.”
On Monday, O’Hare’s spokesperson and Bryant explained their actions when they responded to questions about a string of text messages between TAD board members. The Star-Telegram received the messages through an open records request.
Ruth Ray, the county judge’s spokesperson and policy director, wrote in an email Monday that the newly elected board members campaigned “very publicly” about the items that ended up on their agenda. She said Rigney asked for them to be on the agenda during the July 1 board meeting.
“Judge O’Hare was in the room when that was requested, as were members of the public and media. Judge O’Hare did not ‘script’ TAD’s agenda items,” Ray said, referencing the largely ceremonial July 1 swearing in of the newly elected members.
The three newly elected TAD board members, Rigney, Bryant and Eric Morris , were endorsed by O’Hare and backed financially by the PAC Tarrant Taxpayer Advocates , which spent over $70,000 on the race .
On Monday, Bryant wrote in an email that O’Hare did not “script” the agenda items.
“At some point before the agenda was due, I called and asked Tim O’Hare what legal language was required for an agenda item. He told me whatever you put on an agenda, always add the language: ‘discussion and take possible action,’ to make sure the public is aware a vote may be taken. He also said to work with your Board attorney. Judge O’Hare did not write our agenda items.”
The appraisal district is responsible for appraising property values for tax purposes in Tarrant County.
Staff Writer Cody Copeland contributed to this report
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