
Tarrant Appraisal District strengthens nepotism hiring prohibitions
Tarrant Appraisal District board member Gary Losada sits at the May 10 board of directors meeting. (Sandra Sadek | Fort Worth Report)
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Tarrant Appraisal District board members tightened the district’s nepotism policy May 10, the latest effort to improve transparency and accountability after the departure of its former chief appraiser.
Under the new policy changes, the appraisal district will not hire the children, parents or spouses of existing employees. If employees within the same unit get married, one will be transferred to another unit as staffing allows in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest. The hiring prohibition applies to all regular full-time, part-time, seasonal or temporary positions.
The changes bolster existing portions of the policy that mandated employees related within the third degree by blood or second degree by marriage not be employed within the same department, unless the relationship existed and was previously approved before the nepotism policy took effect. Third degree blood relatives include first cousins and great-grandparents. Second degree marriage relatives include mothers-in-law and sons-in-law.
In addition, the appraisal district removed a clause that gave the chief appraiser discretion to hire or keep someone with a familial conflict employed if they felt the relationship would not harm or affect the day-to-day activities of the district. Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt said the existing policy was a bad one, and the changes are designed to improve it.
Board member Gary Losada joined others in praising the changes. He said over the past few years, there has been intimidation inside of the district because of unchecked nepotism, including romantic relationships. He said it felt as though district staff members read his mind when they suggested the changes.
“Last night, I looked at the language (of the old policy), and I highlighted what I thought should be removed,” Losada said. “Then I compared it to what the staff had done, and it matched perfectly.”
Current employees will be grandfathered in, meaning no one will be laid off or fired if they already have relatives working in the district. Daniel Bennett, a frequent TAD meeting attendee, said existing employees should tell Bobbitt about any current familial relationships within the appraisal district, even if they’re subject to the grandfather clause.
The nepotism policy update follows several other changes under Bobbitt’s leadership. Bobbitt was hired as chief appraiser after Jeff Law resigned in September. After his hiring, Bobbitt told the Fort Worth Report he looked forward to finding ways to rebuild trust with taxpayers.
Shortly after Bobbitt took over, the appraisal district was hit with a ransomware attack that exposed taxpayer information, prompting action to upgrade existing IT systems. Bobbitt said the next step is getting staff training on cybersecurity. Board members have praised his transparency during the crisis, which they said wasn’t present under the former chief appraiser.
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