Fellow Citizens of Friendswood and of Galveston County; in my recent 2023 Property Tax protest, thorough property research has revealed significant (and obvious) corruption throughout Galveston County (via Galveston County Appraisal District). For the past 16 years, Cheryl Johnson has been elected to serve us as our Galveston County Tax Assessor and Collector. She currently resides in Friendswood, TX (Galveston County), which happens to be the same city I call home. Though my research was mainly to properties in the affluent area of Friendswood, property tax evaluations affect everyone in the county as we all still pay county, city, MUD, and school district taxes for services and infrastructure we all share. 

Recently many taxing districts have approved significant bonds that have increased all of our taxes to a point many people are being taxed out of their homes. Friendswood ISD recently passed a $127 million bond to build a new elementary school and to improve the local high school. These bonds are significant in nature to many middle-and-lower income folks that live in these districts. The people who are not impacted as much, "The Rich", are seeing disproportionate changes in valuations during these times where property values all over the country are spiking. 

My research has also unveiled some very convincing evidence that most of the local politicians in Friendswood are getting sweetheart deals on their property taxes. Even Cheryl's 3k sq ft home sitting on 4 acres of Friendswood real estate, valued in the +$700k range, is only paying $393k in property valuation. This is absurd. The Mayor, most city councilmembers and numerous other "elites" throughout the City of Friendswood are paying mere fractions (avg of 60%) of their home values. Some of these property tax valuations have seen reductions each year since 2020. There isn't a property in America that has gone down in value since 2020. Like most people, I am supportive of my community and have always been willing to pay my fair share of property tax but I also have a high expectation that our community leaders are willing to do the same. 

Galveston County Tax Assessor property: https://esearch.galvestoncad.org/Property/View/168945?year=2023&ownerId=198928

There are so many examples of million-dollar homes being taxed at a fraction (50-60%) of their actual values, I could list addresses for days. There are examples of homes selling in November 2022 for $1.6MM being appraised by GCAD at $800k. Too many to list individually but it's happening all throughout the city of Friendswood. Here is a presentation showing a number of these homes.

Friendswood Million Dollar Homes https://youtu.be/EXU0ghnhIo0

Feel free to do research yourself https://esearch.galvestoncad.org

The magnitude of this fraud is in the tens of millions of dollars in lost tax revenue. These are taxes that could be used to increase pay for teachers, police officers, firefighters etc. or to invest in the infrastructure that we all use on a daily basis. Due to the 10% homestead exemption cap, these significant underpayments of property taxes are magnified over a 5-10 year period. In the example I gave earlier, It would take approximately 10 years for the +10% yearly cap to catch up to the actual value of the property and would equate to +$100k in lost revenue for this one property during that period.

When clear and convincing evidence was presented to the ARB during my protest I was met with a group of smitten older men who pretended like they were there as unbiased representatives between the Appraisal District and the citizens of Galveston County. That couldn't be further from the truth. They are an extension of this fraud. They know exactly what is happening. A system that is designed to have "checks and balances" puts a panel of appointed and paid arbiters that have a vested interest in masking the fraud that is happening throughout Galveston County. Texas law allows us to protest our taxes based on unequal appraisal, such as the numerous examples I provided. This ARB panel knows what is going on and they clearly do not care to review any evidence that is obvious to anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes. They pretty much dare you to spend your time and money to sue them in district court.

You may ask, "How can this be happening?". The simple answer is Cheryl Johnson, and her "elite" cohorts in Galveston County, are breaching the public trust as our tax collecting fiduciaries. They are ensuring certain people receive preferential tax treatment while forcing cities and school districts to request tax increases from everyone else. They are short-changing our communities.

These "elites" will preach to the public that we need to raise more money for our districts while at the same time blatantly scamming their fellow citizens and neighbors out of their own hard-earned money. The fact that they still have the nerve to drive through town in their red corvettes waving to everyone at the local 4th of July parade just adds to my frustration.

The bottom line is Cheryl Johnson has to go and she has to go NOW. She is an elected public official that is clearly incapable of doing her job and being honest to the people she is supposed to represent, many of whom are having to move or sell their homes as they are being taxed out. In the last election Cheryl received 16,561 votes in Galveston County. Her challenger received 10,555 votes. 
I would like for this Change.org petition to receive atleast 16,562 signatures for us to have our voices heard and to oust Cheryl Johnson from her publicly elected position once and for all. She needs to step down NOW as she has failed all of us and has done nothing but enriched herself and her friends throughout the county. We NEED grassroots change like this to make a difference. We NEED a viral social media campaign to get the word out to all of the fellow citizens of Galveston County. Please join me and your fellow citizens in fighting to end this blatant corruption.