Three Democratic-backed candidates won Saturday in the first-ever election for the Travis Central Assessment District Board of Directors, according to unofficial results from the Travis County Clerk’s Office.
Those securing election to nonpartisan positions were Jett Hanna in first place, Shenhao “Daniel” Wang in second place, and Dick Lavin in third place. The nine-member board (of which only three are currently elected) hires the district’s chief appraiser, evaluates the district’s budget, approves contracts, and provides public assistance, according to the district’s website. Establish a policy.
Early and mail-in voting results released shortly after polls closed Saturday night showed Travis County Democrats holding a solid lead over Republicans and third-party challengers. This trend continued throughout the voting day.
Hanna, Wang, and Rabin all won by large margins, with approximately 51,000 votes cast in each district.
“I think it’s very important that we win all of these elections and send a message to the Republican Party,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) said Saturday at a watch party for three Democratic-backed evaluation committee candidates. ” he said. “Whether it’s school board, whether it’s city council races in Pflugerville, whether it’s school board races in Leander, we need to win all these elections and build the infrastructure that will ultimately take this state back. .”
Senate Bill 2, an $18 billion omnibus property tax package passed by the state Legislature last year, opens the door to the first Board of Assessment elections on Saturday.
Among the more overlooked elements of the state tax relief plan that won voter support in November are SB 2 to change the structure of the property valuation process to increase taxpayer input; There was an elected position established by. The bill also increases the state homeownership tax exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 and allocates millions of dollars to reduce property tax rates for school districts.
2024 Travis County Elections: Live Results
The Appraisal District Board, currently comprised of nine members appointed by local tax jurisdictions and the Travis County Tax Assessor and Collector, does not evaluate or review property values.
Starting next year, board members will appoint members to the Travis Assessment Review Committee, a group of residents that resolves disputes between property tax payers and assessment districts, in addition to their current responsibilities. The members of the review committee are currently appointed by local administrative district judges.
more:Is your home valued too high?Travis County voters will elect members of the Board of Assessment on Saturday.
Most notably, SB 2 requires that appointments to review committees require the approval of two of the three elected board members. This means that two of the elected officials could effectively stop an appointment that is supported by the remaining members of the board.
Of Travis County’s 895,663 registered voters, only 55,991 participated in Saturday’s local election.
Hannah won first place
Hanna defeated former Austin City Council member Don Zimmerman to take first place and receive nearly 70% of the votes to serve on the Travis Central Appraisal District board.
Hanna, an attorney with a background in commercial real estate who previously served on the board from 1988 to 1990, said he wants to help the district work fairly for taxpayers.
“I look forward to working to ensure that the district does its job of being fair, impartial and transparent,” Hanna told American Politicians at an election results watch party in Austin. .
more:Travis County assessment notices are being mailed. Here’s what residents can expect:
Mr. Hanna received a total of 35,597 votes in his return to the evaluation committee, beating Mr. Zimmerman, who received 15,653 votes.
“While we ran to give a minority of voters an opportunity to be heard, the majority voted in the usual partisan Democratic Party machine,” Zimmerman said in a statement to the Statesman. “Just as the defeat of Jose Garza’s opponent in March hurt the physical safety of minorities, this defeat hurts the economic security of minorities. As we observe, this concentration of political power in the Democratic Party is gaining more and more momentum.”Conservatives are coming out of Travis County, so it remains to be seen how things won’t get worse. ”
Wang elected as second-ranking Republican Party chairman
Wang, a lawyer specializing in electricity regulation who received 67% support from voters in a three-way race, reflected on his victory on election night.
“I grew up attending Travis County Public Schools, so it’s a privilege and a reward to be able to pay into the system that I grew up in,” Wang told the Statesman. .
Wang defeated Travis County Republican Party Chairman Matt Makowiak and Travis County Libertarian Party Secretary Jonathan Paschke, receiving a total of 34,495 votes. By comparison, Makkowiak received 12,793 votes and Paschke received 3,912 votes.
“I am grateful for the over 12,000 votes I received by running to represent taxpayers. Unfortunately, the majority want to raise property taxes and we will all pay the price. Makowiak told the Statesman in a statement. “People like to complain about the affordability crisis, but at the end of the day, voters didn’t know enough or care enough to seize this opportunity.”
“I am humbled by the people of Travis County (approximately 4,000 people) who have considered me worthy of the public’s trust,” Paschke said. “The residents of Travis County will benefit from the kind of fairness and transparency that Wang Shenghao has talked about so openly. I’m grateful for that.”
Lavigne takes 3rd place
Lavin, who has served on the appraisal district board for more than 20 years, said he was humbled by voters’ support for his return to the board.
Lavigne, who had the widest margin of victory of the three races, defeated Bill May with 73% support.
more:Those running for the May 4th Travis Central Appraisal District Board meeting are:
“I am very happy that so many people are so passionate about this work, even though I have never met them and have nothing personally to gain from this work. Because they were concerned about what would happen to public service funding, and they wanted to make sure the appraisal district was running efficiently,” Rabin told the Statesman.
Ms. Rabin outperformed Ms. May, a Republican, in early voting and by mail, and maintained her lead on Election Day. In total, Lavigne received 36,574 votes, compared to 13,504 in May.
Prime Minister Theresa May did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Politico on Sunday morning.