The Cameron Appraisal Review Board (ARB) is a group of private citizens authorized to resolve disputes between taxpayers and the Appraisal District. The ARB was created by the Texas Legislature to provide an independent judicial review of property owner protests. The ARB is a separate authoritative body and are not employees of the Cameron Appraisal District. ARB members are appointed by Cameron Appraisal District Board of Directors for two-year terms. The ARB determines property owner protests and taxing unit challenges. The ARB also determines if the Chief Appraiser has granted or denied exemptions and agricultural appraisals properly. The ARB's decisions are binding only for the year in question. The ARB begins protest hearings in early May and typically finishes by the end of July. However, the ARB may continue hearing a substantial number of protests through September. The ARB also meets throughout the remainder of the year on a monthly basis to carry out supplemental duties. ARB meetings are open to the public. The ARB adopts its Procedures and Rules that govern its operations within the Comptrollers Model Procedures. ARB hearings and meetings are held at the Cameron Appraisal District (CAD) office. There are up to eighteen (18) members on the Cameron ARB.

Under the law, the ARB has a very specific set of duties which include:

• Determine protests initiated by property owners
• Determine challenges initiated by taxing units
• Correct clerical errors in the appraisal records and the appraisal rolls
• Act on motions to correct appraisal rolls under Section 25.25 of the Texas Property Tax Code
• Determine whether an exemption or a partial exemption is improperly granted and whether land is improperly granted appraisal as provided by Subchapter C, D, or E, Chapter 23,Property Tax Code
• After it has completed substantially all protests, the ARB approves the appraisal records

Would you like to be considered for service as a Cameron Appraisal Review Board Member?

Serving on the Cameron ARB is an excellent way to give back to your community by performing a necessary and valuable service. The ARB hearing process is an essential function of local government and gives citizens of Cameron an opportunity to have their appraisals and exemptions as determined by the Cameron Appraisal District reviewed by an independent Appraisal Review Board.

If you are interested in service, questionnaires for Appraisal Review Board members will be accepted by the Cameron Taxpayer Liaison Officer on behalf of the Cameron Appraisal District Board of Directors. Applications from third parties will not be accepted. The application process will open June 1 annually and continue until the current vacancies have been filled. Appointments are usually made by January 1st each year.

Service on the ARB for new members typically begins in May after state required training has been completed in March. Attendance at all required training is mandatory. The ARB is a citizen board that sits in panels of one, three, or as a whole group to hear testimony and review evidence in order to determine property owner protests which cannot be resolved informally by the Cameron Appraisal District.

Members are compensated per diem when conducting hearings, attending ARB meetings, or attending state required ARB member education sessions. Participating in all three of these activities is mandatory. ARB service is typically an 8 hour per day commitment but may require longer hours during May through July and requires members to be available to serve all day every weekday and several Saturdays during this time period. Weekday hearings are also held on a more limited basis each month from September through April. The number of hearings varies significantly and ARB members are expected to be scheduled every day, but must be available to serve if placed on standby. The ARB members typically serve an average of 60 days per year.

If you would like to be considered for service on the Cameron ARB, please take some time to read the following limitations imposed by the state legislature before filling out the ARB questionnaire. As an applicant you must meet the state mandated requirements in order to be considered:

• You must be a current resident of Cameron County, having resided in the county for at least 2 years
• You are not eligible to serve if you are currently a member of the governing body, an officer, or a full-time or part-time employee of a county, city, school district, community college district, municipal utility district, or any other entity supported by local property taxes.
• If you are a former tax unit / governing body member (example would be a substitute teacher), or officer of a local government served by CAD, you are ineligible for four years from the anniversary date you stopped serving in the position’s capacity
• You are not eligible to serve if you are currently employed either full or part-time by the State Comptroller of Public Accounts
• You are not eligible to serve if you have ever been employed by CAD or served as a member of the CAD’s board of directors
• You are not eligible to serve if you have served all or part of three previous terms as an ARB member
• If you have served as an election judge or poll worker you are not eligible to serve for four years from the anniversary date you stopped serving in the position’s capacity
• If you have appeared before the ARB for compensation as a consultant, accountant, appraiser, or representative of a property owner. You are not eligible to serve until 2 years from the anniversary date you appeared before the ARB
• You are not eligible to serve if you are related by blood or marriage to a current member of the ARB or an employee of the CAD
• You are not eligible to serve if you are related by blood or marriage to a member of the CAD board of directors, a paid tax consultant that does business at CAD, or performs appraisals for use in property tax proceedings at the CAD
• You are not eligible to serve if you or your spouse have a business in which you have a substantial interest that has a contract with a local government or CAD. (A substantial interest it means combined ownership by you and your spouse of 10% of voting stock or shares of a business entity, or that you or your spouse is a partner, limited partner, or officer of the business entity)
• You must be a United States citizen or you are eligible to be employed under a visa or work permit
• You are not eligible to serve if you own property with delinquent taxes that have been owed to a taxing unit for more than 60 days after the delinquency date, unless the delinquent taxes and any penalties and interest are being paid under an installment agreement per the Texas Property Tax Code