Editor’s note: This opinion piece was submitted to The Permian Press for publication. Readers interested in submitting an opinion on this or another local issue can visit our Submit a Story page.

When property appraisal values in Midland County show significant changes in assessed values from one year to the next, who is verifying these numbers and ensuring values are applied fairly and uniformly? As an 18-year Midland resident, I have yet to uncover the answer after attempting for the past three months, despite finding that nearly half of Midland’s subdivisions fall outside the state’s own standard for acceptable appraisal accuracy.

When I received my 2026 notice of appraised value in May, I discovered the assessed value of my property had increased significantly (17%) while the typical home in the Grassland Estates subdivision increased by less than half a percent, forty-six times the neighborhood’s median. Considering all 21 Grassland Estates properties that changed hands between 2025 and 2026, my property’s increase was roughly 21 times the group’s median, while nine of the 21 decreased in value.

This is not a property that suddenly became more valuable. It is the same house whose appraised value moved less than 1% a year for three consecutive years — until the month it changed hands. Then, with no permit pulled, no renovation completed, and no improvement of any kind, its assessed value rose seventeen percent in a single cycle. The only thing that changed was the name on the deed.

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After an unsuccessful protest with the Midland CAD, I commissioned a statistical analysis using the district’s own published appraisal data for 2025 and 2026. The analysis identified large swings in year-over-year valuation between neighborhoods, with some areas decreasing by 20% or more while others increased. This variation cannot be explained by underlying market conditions.

One of the most visible statistics is subdivision-level non-uniformity. The Property Tax Assistance Division of the Texas Comptroller uses a median ratio to determine compliance. If the median appraisal is between 90% and 110% of actual market value, it’s deemed acceptable. Although this citywide aggregate median sits at 97% when comparing 2025 and 2026 valuations, 176 subdivisions have a median ratio below 90% (under-appraised), while 45 subdivisions exceed 110% (over-appraised).

By the state’s own standard for acceptable appraisal accuracy, nearly half of all Midland subdivisions with sufficient data to analyze fall outside compliance. This isn’t a case of some neighborhoods rising and others falling in ordinary balance — nearly four times as many subdivisions were pushed below compliance as were pushed above it.

Beckland Terrace fell 43% while neighboring Hillcrest Acres held flat, up 5%. Western Hills and Permian Estates, together, declined 30%. On Anetta Drive in Western Hills, homes on one block lost a median of 42% in a single year. Homes on the very next block lost just 16%. Same street, same neighborhood, same market, yet a different outcome for each block. What occurred in Midland between 2025 and 2026 to cause such drastic and uneven reductions in value?

I experienced the Western Hills decrease when I sold my previous home in late 2025. The property sold for $310,000, which is a reasonable reflection of the appraisal district’s 2025 valuation of $293,000. The 2023 and 2024 appraised values were in a similar range between $284,000 and $297,000.

For 2026, the CAD’s appraised value of this property dropped to $222,000 despite the sales price and three prior years of analogous valuations. Having owned that property for over 15 years, does this mean it was grossly overvalued the past decade, and I should have paid considerably less taxes?

I subsequently filed a formal complaint with the Property Tax Assistance Division of the Texas Comptroller, attaching the full statistical analysis. The Comptroller’s office acknowledged receipt but advised that they have no direct authority over individual appraisal district determinations:

“By state law, our office has no direct jurisdiction or authority over appraisal districts and can only act in a technical assistance role. We do not have authority to study an individual appraisal district outside of the scope of our legally required responsibilities.”

If the Texas Comptroller cannot intervene, who can? A large portion of the appraisal district’s 2026 valuations are seemingly indefensible, yet there is apparently no one who can hold it accountable or at least make the district provide a full explanation for the major discrepancies. At the time of publication, letters sent to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and State Senator Kevin Sparks have not yet received a response.

Given the substantial amount of 2026 property valuation changes across Midland, I know I am not the only one personally experiencing or recognizing these issues. Residents who believe their own valuation reflects this pattern can request a ratio study review through the Property Tax Assistance Division’s Methods and Assistance Program or raise it directly with Midland CAD’s board of directors, who are appointed by the county and taxing entities and answer to them.

My protest alone changed nothing. Enough of us asking the same questions won’t be so easy to ignore.