Harris County Appraisal District Board of Directors met Feb. 15

Harris County Appraisal District Board of Directors met Feb. 15.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, February 15th, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Sullivan called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. and 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, Jim Robinson, Jonathan Cowen, and Martina Lemond Dixon were present. Ann Harris Bennett, Al Odom, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were 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 Martina Lemond Dixon presented a 10-year service award to Elma Loreto of the Human Resources Division.

15-year service awards were presented to Hai Au of the Information & Assistance Division, Jeff Morrison of the ARB Operations Division, and Kyle Whitener of the Appraisal Operations Division.

A 20-year service award was presented to Katrina Duncan of the Residential Property Division.

35-year service awards were presented to Debra Boone of the Residential Property Division and Terry Williams of the Review Appraisal Division.

A 40-year service award was presented to Melanie Holt of the Information Technology Division, GIS Division.

Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board Member Martina Lemond Dixon presented employee of the month plaques to Briana Evans of the Business & Industrial Property Division, Aaron Pack of the Commercial Property Division, Raquel Sanchez of the Information & Assistance Division, and Jarvis Thibodeaux of the Business & Industrial Property Division.

Top Workplace, USA. Elma Loreto, HR Administrator, reported on HCAD’s recognition on achieving the Top Workplace USA award. Board members congratulated and thanked HCAD for achieving this top honor.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owners, Marian Wright and Carla Reed addressed the board. Shirley Jauma, a representative from the Emergency Services District #28 addressed the board regarding the penalty and waiver agenda item for the jurisdiction.

“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.”

Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously.

a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of January 18, 2022.

b. Hillyer Professional Services. Approving a contract renewal for $25,000 for professional services from Dick Hillyer regarding employee group benefits.

c. Financial Reports. Receiving the district’s monthly financial reports.

d. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in amount of $4,663,294.30 as submitted.

Penalty & Interest Waiver. Mr. Robinson, seconded by Mr. Cowen, made a motion to finding good cause exists and waiving the penalties and interest for the Harris County Emergency Services Districts No. 28’s late payment of its 2022 second quarter assessment. After discussion by all board members, the motion failed with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Cowen voting yes and Chairman Sullivan and Ms. Lemond Dixon voting no.

Centre Technologies. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Lemond Dixon, moved to approve purchase of 75 end user devices (laptops and workstations) from DIR vendor, Centre Technologies for an amount not to exceed $230,000.00. The motion carried unanimously.

GIS Training Classes. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Mr. Robinson, made a motion to approve purchase of 241 additional training passes under the current Enterprise Agreement No. 312563 for in-person training on ArcGIS Pro in an amount not to exceed $200,000.00. The motion carried unanimously.

Systems Cooling for Elevators. Chief Appraiser Altinger requested that this action item be pulled from the agenda.

Disaster Exemptions. Deputy Chief Appraiser Jason Cunningham reported on the property damaged during the recent tornados and status of disaster exemptions. Any properties that HCAD identifies as damaged will be sent a letter explaining the section of the code and will be provided a disaster exemption form. Chairman Sullivan also requested that HCAD directly communicate with the mayor or city manager of the affected properties to make them aware of HCAD’s intended actions. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

2022 MAP Results. Clarette Walker, Chief of Operations, reported on the final results of the Comptroller of Public Accounts’ 2022 Methods and Assistance Program review of HCAD operations. The 2022 final report has been received, and HCAD received a perfect score of 100. The district also received a perfect score on its previous five reviews. HCAD’s next review will be in 2024.

Personal Property Renditions. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business and Industrial Division, reported on the 2023 personal property rendition mailing. He reported that a total of 132,300 renditions have been printed and mailed out as of February 1st. An additional 11,037 were delivered electronically to property owner and agent 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. 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 3,719 were placed in the mail. A sample of the packet was provided to the board.

MUD Value Change Viewer. David Dignum, Director GIS section, reported on the new web-based MUD Value Change Viewer. 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, Winnie Tunsel, 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, 495,758 protests have been received with the majority of them being filed electronically. Hearings are now being scheduled one day per week to complete prior year, correction, and exemption accounts. The agent meeting will be held March 23rd and the eight additional hearing rooms will be ready for the hearing season.

Appraisal Matters. There were none.

Executive Session. Chairman Sullivan called the board into executive session at 11:15 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 11:47 a.m.

Roll Call. Board members Jim Robinson, Martina Lemond Dixon, and Jonathan Cowen were present. Ann Harris Bennett, Kathy Blueford-Daniels, and Al Odom were absent.

Pending Litigation. Mr. Robinson, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve settlement of pending litigation, arbitrations, and SOAH appeals as submitted by staff. The motion carried unanimously. 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 11:48 a.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2023/Boardbook-March-15_-2023-final.pdf