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Harris County Appraisal District Board of Directors met Feb. 16.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
A meeting of the Harris County Board of Directors was held at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.
Chairman Sullivan, called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m.
Board Member Kathy Blueford-Daniels led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Salute to the Texas Flag.
Roll Call. The presence of a quorum was established. Chairman Sullivan, Martina Lemond Dixon, Jim Robinson, Jonathan Cowen, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were present, Al Odom joined the meeting at 9:38a.m. Ann Harris Bennett was absent.
Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger and Todd Stewart of Olson and Olson, legal counsel, also were in attendance.
Recognition of Service Awards and Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board Member Kathy Blueford-Dixon presented 10-year service awards to Darrell Bush of the Commercial Property Division, Yasmin Crispin of the Information & Assistance Division, and Michael Kosarek of the Residential Property Division.
15-year service awards were presented to Julissa Barajas of the Office of Chief Appraiser, Security Division and Naomi Villanueva of the Business & Industrial Property Division.
A 30-year service award was presented to Melissa Brodie of the Commercial Property Division.
The following employees were recognized at the board meeting via power point for their years of service.
Lee Brooks of the Review Appraisal Division, Randy Harding of the Information Technology Division, Alejandro Ramos of the Residential Property Division, Bryce Tewell of the Business & Industrial Property Division, Demetris Williams of the Review Appraisal Division and Loren Williams of the Business & Industrial Property Division were recognized for 10-years of service .
Tracy Lensey of the Commercial Property Division was recognized for 30-years of service.
Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board member Kathy Blueford-Daniels presented employee of the month plaques to Yvonne Austin of the Residential Property Division, Kenyetta Blocker of the Business & Industrial Property Division, Vanessa Holt of the Business & Industrial Property Division, and Du Le of the Residential Property Division.
Board member Cowen recognized Ed Wolff who also recently received his certificate of completion from the Chief Appraiser Institute.
Comments from Members of the Public. There were none.
Consent Agenda
“All matters listed under consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion, there will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.”
Mr. Cowen seconded by Ms. Lemond Dixon moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously with Ms. Blueford-Daniels abstaining.
a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of January 19, 2022.
b. Financial Reports. Receiving the district’s monthly financial reports.
c. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $3,021,119.84.
Copy & Print Paper. After consultation with legal counsel this agenda item was considered as a discussion item with no board action required.
Garage Repairs RFP. Mr. Robinson seconded by Mr. Odom, moved to approve specifications for the structural repairs of the parking garage and authorize the publication of the invitation for bids. Mr. Douglas Antwiler, Engineer with IMEG Corporation was available to answer any questions from the board. The motion carried unanimously.
District Depository. Ms. Lemond Dixon seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to review and approve designation of authorized signatures for the district’s depository. The motion carried unanimously
PVS Findings Protest. Ms. Lemond Dixon seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to authorize the chief appraiser or any other employee of the appraisal district to act as the agent for the Pasadena ISD, the protesting school district, for any and all matters related to its Petition Protesting School District Property Value Study Findings. After several comments and questions by board members and by roll call vote the motion carried unanimously.
Rendition Mailing. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business and Industrial Division reported on the 2022 personal property rendition mailing. He reported that a total of 125,034 renditions have been printed and mailed out as of February 7th. An additional 6,370 renditions were made available in Online Agent Services and 11,225 additional renditions were delivered electronically to accounts that opted into E-docs. A copy of the general and vehicle rendition was included in the board packet. Information on communication outreach to the public for the rendition workshops was provided to the board.
Dealer Inventory Mailing. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business and Industrial Division reported that the packets provided to the dealers that are jointly done with the Harris County Tax Office have been completed and a total of 4,053 were placed in the mail. A sample of the packet was provided to the board.
District’s Fund Balance. Theresa Paul, Chief Financial Officer reported on the district’s fund balance as of December 31, 2021 A slide presentation was provided to the board.
Taxpayer Liaison Officer Report. Teresa Terry, Taxpayer Liaison Officer, provided a verbal report to the board. A written report was also provided in the board packet.
Appraisal Review Board Report. ARB Chairman Douglas Sapp, reported on the progress of hearings, attendance by members of the appraisal review board at hearings, and activities of the executive staff and the board’s attorney.
Protest and Hearings. Jeff Morrison, Chief of Hearings reported on protests and hearings, including iFile and iSettle. As of this morning, for the 2021 tax year, 454,013 protests have been received with the vast majority of them being filed electronically. Both Express informals and iSettle were a great success and with further improvement and expansion on the remote process, the 2022 protest season will prove to be just as successful. Scheduling is now down to one day a week focusing on corrections and exemption accounts.
Appraisal Matters. There were none.
Executive Session. Chairman Sullivan called the board into executive session at 10:42 a.m. for the purpose of: (a) private consultation with the board’s attorney regarding (i) pending and potential litigation, (ii) settlement of pending appeals to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, (iii) settlement of pending arbitrations under Texas Tax Code Chapter 41A, and (iv)settlement of pending litigation under Texas Tax Code Chapter 42; (b) considering the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer, or employee, including the duties and appointment of the chief appraiser; (c) considering the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices; (d) deliberating the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property if deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person, as permitted by the Open Meetings Act, Chap. 551, Government Code.
Chairman Sullivan opened the meeting at 11:10 a.m.
Roll Call. Martina Lemond Dixon, Jim Robinson, Jonathan Cowen, Al Odom, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were present. Ann Harris Bennett was absent.
Pending Litigation. Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Mr. Cowen moved to approve settlement of pending litigation, arbitrations, and SOAH appeals as submitted by staff. The motion carried unanimously with Mike Sullivan abstaining. A list is attached.
Appeals Under Sec. 42.02 Tax Code. There were none.
Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 11:11 a.m.
https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/Boardbook-March-16_-2022-Meeting.pdf