Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met Sept. 18

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met Sept. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, September 18th, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Martina Lemond Dixon called the meeting to order at 9:34 a.m.

Board member Ericka McCrutcheon 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 9:36 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.

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

10-year service awards were presented to Adriana Palencia of the Commercial Property Division, Letha Robinson of the Information & Assistance Division, Rafael Torres of the Commercial Property Division, and Ruben Vasquez of the Residential Property Division.

15-year service awards were presented to Maria Moya of the Legal Services Division, and Cindy Olivarez of the Information & Assistance Division.

25-year service awards were presented to Shelly Meinkowsky of the Residential Property Division, and Sandi Sanders of the Jurisdiction Communications Division.

Employees of the Month. Employee of the Month plaques were presented to Tamica Bonner of the Information & Assistance Division, Larretta Mallery of the Review Appraisal Division, Aixa Martinez of the ARB Support Division, and Deborah Weselka of the Communications Services Division.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owner Melissa Rowell addressed the board. A handout was provided 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. Scott, seconded by Mr. Cowen, made a motion to approve the consent agenda. After a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.

a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of August 21, 2024.

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

c. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $6,579,303.81 as submitted.

Setting Number of ARB Members. Ms. McCrutcheon, seconded by Mr. Cowen, made a motion to review and adopt Resolution 2024-08 setting the number of regular members at 190 to serve on the 2025 appraisal review board for said district and containing other provisions relating to the subject. With no further discussion, a roll call vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.

Employee Insurance Plans & Programs. Ms. Blueford-Daniels, seconded by Mr. Robinson, made a motion to discuss and possible action to authorize contract renewals of Employee Insurance Plans and Programs. After a summary by the district’s Insurance Consultant Dick Hillyer, and discussions by the board, a roll call vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.

Authorizing the renewal of the Insurance Committee’s eight recommendations as follows:

(1) approve renewal of health care and dental contracts with the Texas Association of Counties;

(2) approve regular and retired employee cost share arrangement for the health and dental plan;

(3) approve COBRA rates at 102% of the actuarially determined rates for the health and dental plan;

(4) approve regular and retired employee cost share arrangement for vision care with Superior Vision;

(5) approve contracts with Dearborn for life, disability, and to include the optional life and accident insurance products paid by the employee;

(6) approve contract with Aflac for the optional supplemental insurance products paid by the employee;

(7) approve contract with WEX for the optional Flex Plan paid by the employee and the monthly per account charge of $3.90 to be paid by HCAD; and

(8) approve contract with Pet Partners for the optional supplemental pet insurance paid by the employee.

Protests and Hearings. Jeff Morrison, Chief of Hearings, reported on protests and hearings, including iFile and iSettle. For the 2024 tax year, 513,957 protests have been received with the vast majority of them being filed electronically. Settlement options have been extremely productive with over 465k protests already settled and 84% of those settlements having occurred outside of a formal hearing. ARB panels will continue to be scheduled weekly to work the remaining hearings along with prior year, correction and exemption accounts.

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 took this opportunity to address HCAD’s leadership positions and their duties, stating that she would like each division leader to share their responsibilities with the board. Board member Jonathan Cowen suggested maybe using the newsletter as another way to communicate what each division is responsible for. Also requested by Chairman Lemond Dixon was updating the board on the organization’s hybrid work plan, challenges to the operation of the district, and where we are today.

Executive Session. Chairman Lemond Dixon called the board into executive session at 10:43 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 Lemond Dixon opened the meeting at 12:10 p.m.

Roll Call. Board members Jim Robinson, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Jonathan Cowen, Kathy Blueford-Daniels and Ericka McCrutcheon were present. Mike Sullivan, Grace Rodriguez, Ann Harris Bennett and Kyle Scott 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 12:11 p.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2024/BOARDBOOK-final-October-16-2024-meeting.pdf