A new bill introduced in the Texas Legislature—House Bill 4236 by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer—proposes the creation of a Property Value Study Task Force aimed at rethinking how Texas evaluates taxable property values used to distribute school funding.

The bill would establish a nine-member task force with representatives from taxpayer groups, appraisal districts, local taxing units, and the Texas Legislature. Their job? Assess the effectiveness, burden, and future of the state’s Property Value Study (PVS)—a tool the Texas Comptroller uses to ensure equitable school funding based on property tax values.

What This Means for Midstream Asset Valuations

For midstream operators—pipelines, gathering systems, compression stations—this task force could signal a potential shift in how your assets are appraised and challenged.

Midstream valuations are highly sensitive to Comptroller oversight, especially in rural school districts that rely heavily on oil and gas infrastructure to fund education. Under the current system, the PVS often drives counties to increase values in line with Comptroller expectations, regardless of true market conditions. This leads to artificially high assessments and prolonged protest cycles.

If the task force recommends eliminating or replacing the PVS, it could reduce external pressure on appraisal districts to match the Comptroller’s value targets, possibly resulting in:

  • More accurate, locally derived valuations that reflect current market data
  • Less volatility year-over-year in appraised values for pipeline and midstream assets
  • Fewer over-corrections or inflated increases during reappraisal cycles tied to state funding formulas

But it’s not guaranteed. The task force will also be exploring alternative oversight methods that could still affect midstream valuations—just under a different framework.

What’s Next?

The task force will meet at least quarterly and submit its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2026. Until then, the PVS remains in place.

For now, midstream owners should continue tracking how their assets are treated in the study and be prepared to engage as the task force begins its work. This is likely to be a multi-year process, but it’s the most significant legislative move aimed at rethinking the PVS in years.

We’ll be watching closely and will keep you updated.