Houston Daily

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met May 21.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, May 21st, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Jim Robinson called the meeting to order at 9:34 a.m.

Board member Kyle Scott 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 by roll call. Jim Robinson, Martina Lemond Dixon, Kyle Scott, Ericka McCrutcheon, Melissa Noriega, and Annette Ramirez, were present. Kathy Blueford-Daniels joined the meeting at 9:43 a.m. Mike Sullivan and Cassandra Auzenne Bandy 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 Melissa Noriega presented the awards.

10-year service awards were presented to Sarah Hatch of the Residential Property and Jack Simmons of the Review Appraisal Division.

20-year service awards were presented to Cynthia Guerra of the Office of Chief Appraiser and Reagan Routh of the Review Appraisal Division.

25-year service awards were presented to James Barr of the Information Technology Division, Tyrone Jones of the Audit Support Division, Le Luong of the Review Appraisal Division, Latarsha Tolder of the Information & Assistance Division and Paul Walker of the Audit Support Division.

Employees of the Month. Employee of the Month plaques were presented to Louis Henderson of the Information & Assistance Division, Stephen Legg of the Security Services Division, Tondra Prescott of the Information & Assistance Division, and Maribel Ulloa of the Jurisdiction Communications Division.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owners Alexie Sairsky and Mark Goloby addressed the board.

Committee Meetings. Kyle Scott, Chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee summarized the results of the committee’s last meeting held May 12, 2025. Next meeting to be held June 9th.

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.”

Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, made a motion to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously.

a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of April 16, 2025.

b. DDI Renewal. Approving the Chief Appraiser to exercise the first renewal option of a three-year contract with DDI for MultiLevel Enterprise Solution for $54,000.

c. Workday Renewal. Approving a one-year renewal of Workday products subscription from Texas DIR vendor Precision Task Group in the amount of $483,827.

d. HCAD Investment Policy. Approving Resolution No. 2025-05 relating to the Harris Central Appraisal District Investment Policy and Investment Strategies.

e. TREPP Renewal. Authorizing the Chief Appraiser to renew a contract with TREPP to provide structured loan, commercial real estate data and market analytics services for $95,474.

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

g. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $6,151,993.06 as submitted.

Protests, Hearings, and Required Notice. Jeff Morrison, Chief of Hearings, reported on protests and hearings, including iFile and iSettle and the publication of the newspaper notice as required by law. He reported that the annual page ad outlining the property tax protest, and the appeal procedures ran in the Daily Court Review on May 5th. Protests are still being processed but as of this meeting for the 2025 tax year, 428,871 protests have been received with the vast majority of them being filed electronically. Formal hearings began May 12th and correction, and exemption hearings continue to be scheduled to stay current.

2025 Preliminary Rolls and Certified Estimates. Deputy Chief Appraiser Jason Cunningham reported on providing the 2025 preliminary rolls to the taxing jurisdictions and the certified estimates to the school districts, county, and cities. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

Over-65 Letters. Scott Christenson, Senior Director of Information and Assistance, reported on the automatic mailing of the over-65 homestead exemption letter to property owners, the second batch of a total of 3,184 letters have been mailed.

Exemption Volume & Status. Scott Christenson, Senior Director of Information and Assistance, provided the board with an update on the Homestead Exemption applications. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

Boardroom Remodel. Due to the security matters involved, this agenda item will be discussed in Executive Session.

Taxpayer Liaison Officer Report. With the TLO and Deputy TLO attending mandatory Comptroller training, a written report was provided in the board packet. Ms. Terry introduced Wendy Caesar the new Deputy Taxpayer Liaison Officer.

Appraisal Review Board Report. ARB leader Mr. James Koen, 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, a written report was provided in the board packet.

Appraisal Matters. Board member Kyle Scott voiced concerns over an issue relating to Public Facility Corporations (PFCs) and the failure to submit the required audit reports, inquiring about HCAD’s process for tracking and the necessary steps if they fail to do so. Chief Legal Officer Kevin McCormack responded to the board stating that an open records request was submitted to TDHCA and due to the volume of files it is an active and ongoing process that is being tracked.

Executive Session. Chairman Robinson called the board into executive session at 10:51 a.m. for the purpose of: (a) considering the appointment of appraisal review board members; and (b) 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; (c) 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; (d) considering the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices; (e) 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 Robinson opened the meeting at 11:37 a.m.

Roll Call. Board members Martina Lemond Dixon, Ericka McCrutcheon, Kyle Scott, Melissa Noriega, Annette Ramirez, and Kathy Blueford-Daniels were present. Mike Sullivan and Cassandra Auzenne Bandy were absent.

Pending Litigation. Mr. Scott, seconded by Ms. Ramirez, moved to approve settlement of pending litigation, arbitrations, and SOAH appeals as submitted by staff. After a roll-call vote, the motion carried unanimously. A list is attached.

Appeals Under Sec. 42.02 Tax Code. There were none.

Chairman Robinson asked to discuss the request that was made earlier in the meeting by board member Scott regarding an estimate of exempt properties in Harris County. Chief Deputy Appraiser Jason Cunningham provided that information to the board.

Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 11:41 a.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2025/Boardbook-June-18-2025-meeting.pdf