Thumbs Down to the Dallas County Appraisal District for underestimating the city’s tax base by possibly $3 billion. The budget for fiscal 1983 had been prepared by City Manager Charles Anderson and his staff; the City Council went over it and began to fine-tune the figures. At that point, the county district’s chief appraiser, John Marshall, dropped his bombshell and kicked off a whole new ball game with the budget, the homestead exemption and the needed tax increase. As Councilman Sid Stahl said, “It’s absolutely ridiculous that we could get this far in the process and have them miss the mark that much.”