Fort Bend Appraisal District Budgets Total $21.06 MM / Year
The Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) was perhaps uniquely equipped to deal with the explosive growth in property taxes across Texas. Used to dealing with one of the highest tax rates in America, FBCAD was already staffed to appraise and gather as much tax as possible. With a budget of $21.06 million and a roster of 61 full-time appraisers, FBCAD can process properties at an impressive clip. But with speed comes mistakes, and the people of Fort Bend County are no strangers to using tax protests to get the correct results. Stand up to FBCAD when you join O’Connor’s Property Tax Protection Program(TM)today. O’Connor will annually protest your taxes for you, making sure that you are never abused by the system. No hidden fees or upfront costs, and you will only pay if your property taxes are lowered. Enroll, relax, and save.
Total 2018 CAD Budget Including ARBSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Millions of $ | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total Budget | 9.731 | 10.313 | 11.941 | 11.981 | 13.082 | 14.260 | 15.034 | 15.653 | 18.195 | 21.064 | 24.417 | |
| ARB Operations Budget | 0.5199 | 0.6880 | 0.6844 | 0.7280 | 1.2352 | 1.2699 | 1.1593 | 1.0904 | 1.3512 | 1.458 | 1.708 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since YOU can spend YOUR money better than the government.
Fort Bend County CAD Operations and Budgets
The entire Texas state budget is built around appraisal districts and property taxes. As Texas has no income tax, the only way to fund school districts, MUDs, local governments, and other important matters is to bring in money from properties. This makes the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) one of the most important, and therefore powerful, organizations in Fort Bend County. However, the only oversight for FBCAD is by the residents themselves and the people must use their right to property tax protests to keep the organization in line.
There is no property tax consulting firm in America that likes putting appraisal districts in their place more than O’Connor. Founded 50 years ago with the vision of protecting Texans from the tyranny of property taxes that have gone berserk, O’Connor has become one of the largest such companies in existence. Based in Houston, O’Connor is very familiar with FBCAD in particular and has been opposing their inflated taxes for decades.
FBCAD Total CAD Budget Including ARB
FBCAD has a large budget for the size of Fort Bend County. Set at $21.06 million in 2023, FBCAD is on-par with similar appraisal districts like those found in Denton or Collin Counties. This budget has also increased at a steady rate, increasing 116.44% over a decade. Fort Bend County’s long precedent of high property taxes has helped FBCD stay adequately funded, with funding for the appraisal review board (ARB) being one of the highest in Texas. 2023 saw the ARB receive $1.45 million, which is quite respectable when compared to similar counties.
Total Property Taxes Levied Fort Bend CountySource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Billions of $ | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Property Taxes Levied | 1.4414 | 1.5999 | 1.7357 | 1.9718 | 1.9195 | 2.0046 | 2.13 | 2.1313 | 2.2446 | 2.2838 | 2.5539 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Appealing annually helps the appraisal district avoid over-taxing a property for both market value and unequal appraisal.
Fort Bend County Total Amount of Property Taxes Levied
The common trend across Texas is that property taxes have at least doubled since 2014. In some counties that experienced rapid growth, this number has actually tripled. Since Fort Bend County already had some of the country's highest property taxes in 2014, the number did not quite double at $2.28 billion in 2023. It is thanks to the dedicated tax protests by residents that these numbers have not gotten higher.
FTE Positions In Budget Total - Fort Bend CADSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| FTEs | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total Number of FTEs | 100 | 106 | 106 | 110 | 118 | 135 | 138 | 144 | 136 | 169 | 190 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since Valuation is a subjective matter where reasonable people can differ.
FTE Positions in Total Budget
Despite their critical nature to how Texas operates, appraisal districts always aim to have a lean number of staff on their roster. FBCAD is not an exception, with 169 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees as of 2023. While certainly small for what they are required to do, this number is higher than larger districts such as Denton County, which only had 104 in the same timeframe. FTEs have also grown every year, a rarity in Texas where most appraisal districts try to keep everything going on a skeleton crew.
FTEs Assigned to the Appraisal - Fort Bend CADSource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| FTEs | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| FTEs Appraisal Total | 46 | 46 | 40 | 48 | 50 | 56 | 51 | 57 | 63 | 61 | 59 | |
| Residential | 25 | 25 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 31 | |
| Commercial | 7 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | |
| All Other | 14 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 18 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since It is a great way to slow the growth of government spending (of your money).
FBCAD FTEs Assigned to the Property Appraisal
The small staff of FBCAD is reduced further when it comes to FTEs that actually perform appraisal work. 61 FTEs worked as appraisers in 2023, down from a high of 63 in 2022. The remainder of the FTEs work in clerical and other duties, putting much of the workload on these 61 individuals. 31 FTEs appraised residential properties, 12 commercial, and 18 handled all other properties. With 354,100 parcels in Fort Bend County, that breaks down to 5,804.92 parcels for every appraiser.