The ARB Board: How It Steals Wealth from Texans and Violates Our Constitution

By Freddie America

There is no agency in Texas more misunderstood — and more destructive — than the Appraisal Review Board, known as the ARB.

Most Texans only meet the ARB when they’re already in pain:

  •        Their home value skyrockets for no reason

  •        Their taxes jump 200–400%

  •        Their protest is ignored

  •        Their evidence is dismissed

  •        Their voice is silenced

But the real truth is far worse:

**The ARB is not a “review board.”

It is a wealth-extraction machine.

A system designed to take from Texans, not protect them.**

This is not by accident.

This is by design.

⭐ 1. The ARB Inflates Home Values to Feed Government Revenue

Here’s the first truth Texans must understand:

The ARB works for the appraisal district — not for the people.

When appraisals go up:

  •        Cities get more money

  •        Counties get more money

  •        School districts get more money

  •        Special districts get more money

  •        Bureaucrats get more money

And the ARB is the shield that protects the inflation system.

Every year, millions of Texans walk into ARB hearings with:

  •        Real appraisals

  •        Flood-zone evidence

  •        Comparable home prices

  •        Documentation

  •        Photos

  •        Market truth

And every year, they are denied.

Because the ARB exists to defend the tax increase, not to defend the homeowner.

⭐ 2. The Black Book — The ARB’s Secret Playbook

Inside nearly every ARB hearing room in Texas sits the same thing:

A thick black book.

This book contains:

  •        Rules created by appraisal districts

  •        “Standards” that contradict state law

  •        Internal guidelines that override evidence

  •        Language that excuses inflation

  •        Scripted responses to deny protests

The ARB treats this book like it is the Constitution.

But it is NOT the Constitution.

In fact:

The ARB’s black book routinely violates:

  •        Article 8 — Taxation and Revenue

  •        Article 1 — Due Process

  •        Article 7 — School Funding

  •        Equal and uniform taxation requirements

The black book is not law.

It is the tool used to deny Texans their rights.

⸻

⭐ 3. The ARB Steals Generational Wealth From Texans

Every time the ARB inflates your value…

Every time they deny your protest…

Every time they ignore your evidence…

Every time they rubber-stamp a tax increase…

They are stealing real wealth from Texas families.

Here is the hard truth:

🟥 Texans lose $8,000–$20,000 per year in property taxes

(home value depending)

🟥 Wealthy areas lose $25,000–$35,000+

(Highland Park, University Park, Westlake)

🟥 Collectively — Texans lose over $70 BILLION every year

in property taxes alone.

That is $70,000,000,000 that should stay in:

  •        Texas families

  •        Texas workers

  •        Texas small businesses

  •        Texas communities

Instead, the ARB system extracts it — legally, but unconstitutionally.

This is not taxation.

This is financial drainage.

⭐ 4. The ARB Violates the Constitution — Quietly and Repeatedly

Article 8 requires:

✔ Equal taxation

✔ Uniform valuation

✔ Real market value

✔ Due process

✔ Fair hearings

The ARB delivers:

❌ Inflated values

❌ Forced taxation

❌ Blocked evidence

❌ Rigged hearings

❌ Denials in minutes

❌ No transparency

When I went before the ARB, I lived in a flood zone — yet they valued my home like a luxury estate.

They didn’t listen.

They didn’t care.

They didn’t review anything.

They just denied me, like they deny thousands of Texans daily.

This is not due process.

This is not fairness.

This is not constitutional.

⭐ 5. Politicians Pretend “Nothing Can Be Done” — But That Is a Lie

When Texans complain, politicians say:

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“It’s complicated.”

“We need time.”

“Maybe next session.”

“Maybe after election season.”

FALSE.

The truth is simple:

The Governor can stop unconstitutional appraisals TODAY with one pen stroke.

A moratorium.

A constitutional freeze.

An executive enforcement order.

It can be done NOW — not after a special session.

The ARB exists because politicians ALLOW it to exist.

And Texans suffer because politicians refuse to act.

⭐ 6. When I Go to Austin, I Will END the ARB System

Not reform it.

Not adjust it.

Not improve it.

END it.

Texas deserves:

  •        TRUE market valuations

  •        Transparent school funding

  •        Constitutional taxation

  •        Real due process

  •        Honest hearings

  •        Protection for seniors

  •        Protection for veterans

  •        Protection for widows

  •        Protection for working families

The ARB fails at all of these.

It must go.

⭐ FINAL WORD

The ARB is not a review board.

It is not a safeguard.

It is not a protector of fairness.

It is a system that:

  •        Extracts wealth

  •        Violates rights

  •        Ignores evidence

  •        Crushes families

  •        Breaks the Constitution

  •        Protects political interests over people

  •        Harmed my family — and thousands of others

And it must be dismantled.

Texans deserve honesty.

Texans deserve fairness.

Texans deserve constitutional taxation.

Texans deserve to keep their homes.

And I will fight for nothing less.

— Freddie America