What to know: All Midland voters will choose between Brandon McMorries and incumbent Pat Erdwurm for the Midland Central Appraisal District (MCAD) Place 3 position in the Nov. 3 election.

The Permian Press asked the candidates the same three questions focused on MCAD operations, taxpayer rights, and the board’s oversight of the chief appraiser, and asked candidates to respond in 150 words or fewer. Answers are published in alphabetical order by the candidate’s last name. Candidate responses are presented as submitted. Early voting runs Oct. 19-30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Why it matters: MCAD determines the appraised value of property in Midland County, but it does not set the tax rates that determine how much residents ultimately pay.

The board also does not personally decide what an individual home or business is worth. Instead, it oversees the appraisal district. Major responsibilities include hiring the chief appraiser, approving MCAD’s budget, and setting policies for how the district operates.

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Editor’s note: The Permian Press had not yet received questionnaire answers from Pat Erdwurm at the time of publication but will update the article if they become available.

Question 1: What is one specific change you believe the MCAD Board should make over the next two years? Why is that change needed, and what would success look like?

Brandon McMorries: Independent auditing of MCAD’s major appraisal segments and methodology. From 2025 to 2026, minerals fell more than $7.2 billion (22.55%), single-family residential fell about $1.26 billion (7.52%), while commercial personal property jumped 67.6%.

Alan LaFever’s Permian Press analysis found major subdivision-level inconsistencies. A separate review of MCAD data flagged more than 70,000 accounts as suspected valuation anomalies—a figure Midland ISD Trustee Brandon Hodges has publicly referenced. If private citizens can find these problems in MCAD’s own data, “Why aren’t MCAD and the taxing entities finding them?”

The consequences reach every taxpayer. The City’s tax rate rose about 10.1%, Midland County’s 19.24%, the Hospital District says its adopted rate effectively raises M&O taxes 8%, and Midland College proposed a 19.64% nominal increase. They set their own rates, but they rely on MCAD values. If those values are wrong or unequal, the tax burden shifts unfairly.

The Board should independently audit staff and contractor work. Success means accurate, equal, uniform, understandable, and verifiable values. My philosophy is simple: Verify Before Trust.

Question 2: When a property owner believes MCAD has valued their property incorrectly, what role should an elected board member play in helping the taxpayer, and where should the board member’s involvement end?

McMorries: An elected Board member should listen to taxpayers, help them understand the process, point them toward the proper remedy, and make sure legitimate complaints do not disappear into a black hole. A taxpayer should not need 30 years of appraisal experience, a lawyer, or political connections just to understand how MCAD arrived at a value or to receive fair treatment.

But there is a hard line: a director should never try to change an individual property appraisal or influence an ARB decision. That is not the Board’s job. The Board’s job is to make sure the system works: laws and adopted procedures are followed, taxpayers are treated fairly and respectfully, complaints are answered, and recurring problems are identified and corrected.

Help taxpayers navigate the process. Make government answer them. Hold the system accountable. But do not decide the individual appraisal.

Question 3: What specific measures should the board use to assess whether the chief appraiser is performing well, and what results would cause you to believe a change in leadership is necessary?

McMorries: Verified results- not assurances. That means appraisal accuracy and uniformity, independent audits and random samples, Comptroller ratio studies, compliance with law and adopted procedures, transparency, taxpayer complaints, customer service, contractor performance, and whether known problems are actually corrected.

I also want to know whether MCAD’s schedules, formulas, adjustments, and appraisal methods are supportable, consistently applied, and understandable enough to be explained to taxpayers. Government should be able to explain what it did, why it did it, and how it arrived at the value upon which a citizen’s tax burden is based. Show us your work.

A leadership change becomes necessary when there is a sustained pattern of serious appraisal problems, ethical or legal violations, lack of transparency, failure to correct known deficiencies, or loss of accountability to the Board and taxpayers. The Chief Appraiser manages MCAD. The Board’s job is real oversight- not rubber-stamping.