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Harris County Appraisal District Board of Directors met April 20.
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 9:33 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, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were present. Ann Harris Bennett, Al Odom and Jonathan Cowen were absent.
Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger and Todd Stewart of Olson and Olson, legal counsel, also were in attendance.
Before the service awards were presented, Chief Appraiser Altinger recognized board member Jim Robinson who recently celebrated a birthday.
Recognition of Service Awards and Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board Member Kathy Blueford-Daniels presented 10-year service awards to Nickie Dibrell of the Jurisdiction Communications Division, Mark Pena of the Security Services Division and Ana Salinas of the Business & Industrial Property Division.
15-year service awards were presented to Scott Christenson of the Information & Assistance Division and Tambra Lilly of the Residential Property Division, Dipaliben Shah of the Information & Assistance Division and Kimberly Spada of the Information & Assistance Division.
Sharon Robertson of the Residential Property Division was recognized for 20 years of service.
Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board member Kathy Blueford-Daniels presented employee of the month plaques to Sara Bernal of the Information & Assistance Division, Michael Gipson of the Residential Property Division, Laurie Gillespie of the Business & Industrial Property Division, and Lawrence Louis of the Information Technology Division.
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. Robinson seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously.
a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of March 16, 2022.
b. Eccentex Corporation. Approving a one-year subscription with Eccentex Corporation for Case Management System in the amount of $60,000.
c. Financial Reports. Receiving the district’s monthly financial reports.
d. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $5,361,417.56 and a transfer of funds for $352,000 as submitted.
Hearing Rooms RFP. Ms. Lemond Dixon seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, moved to approve specifications for the construction of the new hearing rooms at 13013 Northwest Freeway and authorize the publication of the invitation for bids. The motion carried unanimously.
Parking Garage Contract. Mr. Robinson seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, moved to award a contract for the maintenance and repairs to the parking garage at the HCAD Building to CRX, Inc. for a total of $83,650. Mr. Doug Antwiler, Engineer from IMEG Corporation was available to answer board member questions and concerns. The motion carried unanimously.
Software Renewal. Ms. Lemond Dixon seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, moved to approve the one-year renewal for the district’s backup software maintenance for a total cost of $59,000. The purchase would be made from Centre Technologies. under Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR). The motion carried unanimously.
Software Licenses. Ms. Blueford-Daniels seconded by Ms. Lemond Dixon, moved to authorize the renewal of an Enterprise Agreement (EA) and True-Up for selected Microsoft software licenses from state DIR vendor, SoftwareOne for $504,000. The motion carried unanimously.
Penalty Waiver. Mr. Robinson seconded by Ms. Lemond Dixon, moved to approve the requests from the City of West University Place and the Port of Houston Authority for waiver of penalty and interest on late payment of the taxing unit’s quarterly budget allocation to the district in the amount of $7,913.95. The motion carried unanimously.
Committee Assignments. With consent from legal counsel, Chairman Sullivan at this time announced the following committees and appointed the following representatives.
∙ Audit Committee:
Kathy Blueford-Daniels, Chair
Al Odom
Jim Robinson
∙ Employee Benefits Committee:
Martina Lemond Dixon, Chair
Ann Harris Bennett
Jonathan Cowen
∙ Organizational Name Change Committee:
Mike Sullivan, Chair
Martina Lemond Dixon
Jim Robinson
Community Relations. Mabel Menefee, Community Relations representative, provided an overview of the district’s community outreach to inform Harris County residents about the appraisal process, exemptions, and the property tax system. A copy of the 2022 Spring workshop schedule and a slide presentation was provided to the board.
Rendition Workshops. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business & Industrial Property Division, gave an update on the rendition workshops. Eight rendition workshops were held with four workshops held virtually via WebEx and four held at the HCAD offices. A total of 408 business property owners were assisted which included 54 bi-lingual owners. These workshops have proven to be very productive every year. A slide presentation was provided to the board.
Strategic Plan. Deputy Chief Appraiser Jason Cunningham reported on the strategic plan for 2022-2026 providing an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, strategic direction, and future goals for the organization. A slide presentation was provided to the board.
Chairman Sullivan called the meeting into a brief recess at 10:55 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order by Chairman Sullivan at 11:24 a.m.
Demographic Analysis. Sally Vardy, Chief Human Resources Officer, reported on the district employees’ demographics. A slide presentation was provided to the board.
2023 Budget Development. Theresa Paul, Chief Financial Officer, reported that all the divisions submitted their recommendations and were reviewed. An informal budget workshop was scheduled for April 21st at which time directors and department heads presented their budgets. The proposed budget must be submitted to the jurisdictions by June 15th and adopted by the board before September 15th. A copy of the proposed budget schedule was provided in the board packet.
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 2022 tax year, 144,679 protests have been received. Scheduling is continuing to focus on corrections and exemption accounts. The first day of formal hearings for 2022 is Monday, May 9thand four Saturdays have been designated for the 2022 hearing season. With the expectation of another record number of protests, informal meetings, express informals, iSettle, and topline will play a huge role in certification this hearing season.
Appraisal Matters. There were none.
Executive Session. Chairman Sullivan called the board into executive session at 12:18 p.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 12:44 p.m.
Roll Call. Martina Lemond Dixon, Jim Robinson, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were present. Al Odom, Jonathan Cowen and Ann Harris Bennett were absent.
Pending Litigation. Ms. Lemond Dixon seconded by Mr. Robinson, 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.
Report on corrections under Sec. 25.25(b), Tax Code. The quarterly report of corrections was made available upon request by any board members who wanted to inspect it.
Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/Boardbook-May-18-2022-meeting.pdf