Susan Meryl Bayne, 80, is a retired psychotherapist and an activist with the local government accountability group Infuse SA. She’s running for the open Place 1 position on the BCAD board, where incumbent Naomi Elizabeth Miller declined to seek reelection.
Hear from the candidate
1. Please tell voters about yourself.
I have lived in San Antonio now for over 43 years and love being here. Academically, I have a BA degree in Psychology from The Catholic University of America and earned a Masters Degree from St. Mary’s University in Marriage and Family Therapy.
I was in private practice as a psychotherapist for almost 30 years. Working with people to overcome challenges and to improve their lives is a foundational value that guides my life.
2. Briefly describe any professional experiences you’ve had that relate to the role of overseeing the appraisal district.
I have been engaged with the Appraisal District now for many years, protesting my own property appraisal and in the last two years.
Since three new seats were created on the Board of Directors two years ago, I have been engaged with the members who were elected. I provided input as a constituent for improvements to the 2024 Reappraisal Plan that was created to guide the process of home appraisals.
I also have volunteered with the free “Protest your Property Tax Workshops” that have been offered to the people in each district by the City of San Antonio. At those events I met people all over our city and became so concerned about the burden of these taxes especially on many low income homeowners.
3. What do you believe the Bexar Central Appraisal District should be doing to make the property appraisal process more transparent to the public, or to improve customer service?
I actually think that the Appraisal District is staffed by people who are doing an exemplary job at providing customer service. I have interfaced with them and have nothing but praise for everyone with whom I spoke.
One big change to the Appraisal District was made in that 2024 election. The Board of Directors was given responsibility to select who serves on the 50 member Appraisal Review Board. Citizens had been very angry about the way they were treated when they met with the panel to appeal their taxes. I think this oversight by the board was a very important step in demanding professionalism by the teams meeting with our citizens.
Moving forward, I would like to see the scope of the Free Property Tax Protest Workshops be expanded and that the publicity for these events also be expanded.
4. In recent years, some Texas appraisal districts have transformed an administrative role into more of a policy-making body, approving changes like less frequent appraisals and caps on the amount an appraisal can rise from year to year. What role do you think BCAD should take, if any, in trying to address additional property tax relief?
I think the decisions that our current Board of Directors implemented regarding rolling property values over for a year if a property was successfully protested was a very good thing.
People are crying out for relief, not only from taxes, but also from the burden of having to protest their assessment every year. So to have implemented a roll-over for a year of the agreed upon value, unless the property decreases is a true benefit to the public and should be commended.
Whatever can be done at the local level to help the homeowner should be considered. I think reasonable people everywhere would have compassion for the need to protect the citizens providing the money and realistic respect for the institutions the community does need to fund.
5. Elected appraisal district positions were created to help build public trust in the appraisal process. How would you approach public outreach?
I think I would make every effort to reach out to local media to ask for time to educate about the appraisal process. I would ask the Appraisal District to also advertise a number for citizens to call where they would leave concerns and we would contact them. And finally, as I said above, I would explore if free protest workshops could be offered and widely advertised.
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