Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met Aug. 21

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met Aug. 21.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, August 21st, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Martina Lemond Dixon called the meeting to order at 9:31 a.m.

Board member Jim Robinson 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 Martina Lemond Dixon, Jim Robinson, Jonathan Cowen, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Kyle Scott, Ericka McCrutcheon were present. Kathy Blueford-Daniels arrived at 9:40 a.m. Mike Sullivan, Grace Rodriguez, and Ann Harris Bennett were absent.

Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger and Tammy White-Chaffer of Olson and Olson, legal counsel, were also in attendance.

Chief Appraiser Altinger asked all those present to observe a moment of silence honoring HCAD employees John Hickman and Joe Estrada who recently passed away.

Recognition of Service Awards and Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Altinger and Board member Kyle Scott presented the awards.

15-year service awards were presented to Esmeralda Caudle of the ARB Operations Division and Phebbie Nguyen of the Business & Industrial Property Division.

20-year service awards were presented to Ayana Ogletree of the Residential Property Division, Adam Bogard of the Review Appraisal Division and James Aprea of the Residential Property Division.

A 25-year service award was presented to Angelica Hernandez of the Budget & Finance Division.

Employees of the Month. Employee of the Month plaques were presented to Lorie Barrios of the Budget & Finance Division, Peyton Brown of the ARB Operations Division, Le Luong of the Review Appraisal Division, and Victoria Vaughn of the ARB Operations Division.

Chairman Lemond Dixon took this opportunity to officially welcome and thank newly elected board members Kyle Scott, Ericka McCrutcheon and Kathy Blueford-Daniels for joining the board. Chief Appraiser Altinger presented the new members with plaques of recognition.

2022 ACFR Award. Chief Appraiser Altinger presented the Certificate of Achievement of Excellence in Financial Reporting to Chief Financial Officer, Theresa Paul. This is the 36th year the Budget & Finance Division has received this award.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owners Melissa Rowell and Sarah Shah addressed the board.

Presentation of Proposed 2025-2026 Reappraisal Plan. Deputy Chief Appraiser, Jason Cunningham, presented the proposed 2025–2026 reappraisal plan to the board with a brief slide presentation. A copy of the plan was provided to the board. Chairman Lemond Dixon opened the floor to the board of directors for any questions regarding the process before opening the public hearing.

Public Hearing on Proposed 2025-2026 Reappraisal Plan. Chairman Lemond Dixon opened the public hearing for the 2025-2026 reappraisal plan. With no comments from members of the public, Chairman Lemon Dixon declared the public hearing closed at 10:54 a.m.

Presentation of Proposed 2025 Budget. Chief Appraiser Altinger summarized the proposed budget for 2025 with a slide presentation outlining his recommendations to the board. Chairman Lemond Dixon opened the floor to the board of directors for any questions regarding the proposed budget.

Public Hearing on Proposed 2025 Budget. . Chairman Lemond Dixon opened the public hearing for the 2025 budget. With no comments from members of the public, Chairman Lemon Dixon declared the public hearing closed at 10:54 a.m.

Chairman Lemond Dixon called for a five-minute break at 11:15 a.m. and re-opened the meeting at 11:23 a.m. with one of the directors having to leave the meeting early, Chairman Lemond Dixon requested that the action items on the agenda be addressed first.

Resolution 2024-06 Approving & Adopting 2025-2026 Reappraisal Plan. Mr. Scott, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve Resolution 2024-06 adopting the 2025-2026 reappraisal plan for the Harris Central Appraisal District as amended and modified by the Board here today. The amended motion as stated by the Chief Appraiser was that the reappraisal plan follows all the Tax Code requirements including Sec 23.01E and in addition to that that it includes a study with regards to looking at a new CAMA system and looking at integration of Multiple Regression Analysis. The motion carried unanimously.

Resolution 2024-07 Approving & Adopting 2025 Budget. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Blueford Daniels, moved to approve Resolution No. 2024-07 adopting the 2025 budget for the Harris Central Appraisal District as presented. The motion carried unanimously.

ARB Committee Update & News Release. Ms. Blueford-Daniels, seconded by Mr. Robinson, moved to approve the ARB appointment committee’s recommendations including directing the chief appraiser to issue a news release stating that applications for the Appraisal Review Board members for 2025 will be accepted by the Harris Central Appraisal District’s Board of Directors beginning September 1, 2024, and will be accepted until vacancies are filled. The motion carried unanimously.

Audit Report. Board members of the Audit Committee met on August 19th for an overview of the district’s 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report with Stephanie Harris. The overview included the financial reporting process, the audit process, and compliance with laws and regulations. The audit report for 2023 was prepared by the firm of Crowe LLP, previously Belt Harris Pechacek, LLLP and presented to the board by auditor Daniel Heber. He issued a clean unmodified opinion on the district’s financial statements and stated that this is the highest level of assurance that our independent auditor can provide. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Auzenne Bandy, moved to receive the annual audit report from the district’s external auditors. The motion carried unanimously.

Carahsoft Technology Corp. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Mr. Scott, moved to approve authorizing the chief appraiser to extend the data licensing agreement with DIR vendor Carahsoft Technology Corporation, to provide HCAD with residential transaction data in Harris County. The motion carried unanimously.

Aerial Imagery Cost Share. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. McCrutcheon, moved to approve entering into an Interlocal Government Agreement with Harris County to cost share with HCAD to use the Pictometry/EagleView Accu/Orthos and Obliques aerial imagery for a six-year term to pay HCAD $100,000 per year, a total of $600,000. The motion carried unanimously. A slide presentation demo was presented to the board.

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.

a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of July 17, 2024, and Special meeting of July 22, 2024.

b. General Liability, Property Coverage, Workers’ Compensation. Approving the renewal to Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool in the amount of $393,891.

c. DEX Imaging Renewal. Authorizing the chief appraiser to exercise a one-year renewal option outsourcing all printer and Multi-Functional Unit (MFU) management to a Sourcewell Cooperative vendor DEX Imaging for an estimated annual cost of $101,000.

d. Tax Transparency Website Renewal. Authorizing the chief appraiser to allocate funds for the continued use of the services for tax transparency website and taxing unit portal, from True Prodigy Tech Solutions. The amount for the services will be approximately $78,000.

e. VisiFLOW Services Renewal. Authorizing the chief appraiser to exercise a one-year renewal option on a contract with Eccentex Corp. for VisiFLOW software and services support for the maintenance cost of $154,975.

f. Appreciation Luncheons. Approving the Tax Year 2024 appreciation luncheons for HCAD employees and ARB members which is not expected to exceed $15,000.

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

h. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $6,047,913.45 and a transfer of funds for $3,015,000 as submitted.

Protests, and Hearings. Jeff Morrison, Chief of Hearings, reported on protests and hearings, including iFile and iSettle. For the 2024 tax year, 512,655 protests have been received with the vast majority of them being filed electronically. Settlement options have been extremely productive with over 421k protests already settled. The ARB approved the records on Friday, August 16th with 4.74% of the value still outstanding. ARB panels will continue to be scheduled to work the remaining hearings along with prior year, correction and exemption accounts to make sure they are completed timely.

Phone System Update. Scott Christenson, Information & Assistance Senior Director, reported on the analysis of the Telephone Information Center call volume, potential bottlenecks, and efficiency. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

Evaluation Committee Update. Board member Cassandra Auzenne Bandy (Evaluation Committee Chair) updated the board on the progress of the Evaluation Committee. Board member Kathy Blueford-Daniels (ARB Committee Chair) also updated the board on the progress of the ARB Committee.

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, Danielle Kirkland, 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.

Appraisal Matters. Chairman Lemond Dixon addressed the issue regarding a possible timeline on the CAMA Software Analysis report suggesting that an update on the process be presented to the board quarterly.

Executive Session. Chairman Lemond Dixon called the board into executive session at 12:44 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 Lemond Dixon opened the meeting at 1:04 p.m.

Roll Call. Board members Jim Robinson, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Kyle Scott, Kathy Blueford Daniels and Ericka McCrutcheon were present. Mike Sullivan, Grace Rodriguez, Ann Harris Bennett and Jonathan Cowen were absent.

Pending Litigation. Mr. Robinson, seconded by Ms. Auzenne Bandy, 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 1:05 p.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2024/Boardbook-September-18-2024-Meeting.pdf