Houston Daily

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met June 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, June 18th, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Jim Robinson called the meeting to order at 9:31 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 by roll call. Jim Robinson, Martina Lemond Dixon, Kyle Scott, Ericka McCrutcheon, Melissa Noriega, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy and Annette Ramirez, were present. Board members Mike Sullivan joined the meeting at 9:35 a.m. and Kathy Blueford-Daniels joined the meeting at 9:53 a.m.

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 Cassandra Auzenne Bandy presented the awards.

10-year service awards were presented to Gloria Guillory of the Review Appraisal Division, Sara Liu of the Information Technology Division, Blanche Loville of the Business & Industrial Property Division, and Linda Skinner of Information & Assistance Division.

20-year service awards were presented to Laurie Gillespie of the Business & Industrial Division, Adela Jacinto of the Information Technology Division and Danielle Matthews of the Commercial Property Division.

Employees of the Month. Employee of the Month plaques were presented to Joe Alvarado of the Review Appraisal Division, Joshua Beasley of the Commercial Property Division, Rhonda Drew of the Jurisdiction Communications Division, and Stephen Serrano of the Security Services Division.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owners Melissa Rowell and Alexie Swirsky addressed the board. Ms. Rowell provided a handout to the board.

Committee Meetings. Director Scott, Chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee summarized the results of the committee’s last meeting held June 9, 2025. Director McCrutcheon, Chairman of the Evaluation Committee also reported on the meeting of the Evaluation committee.

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 Mr. Scott, 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 May 21, 2025.

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

c. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $9,029,673.75 as submitted.

Schedule Public Hearing for 2026 Budget. Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Ms. McCrutcheon, made a motion to set the date, time and place of the public hearing on the proposed 2026 budget. The public hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. on July 16, 2025, here in the Board Room on the 7th Floor, of 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, Texas. The motion carried unanimously.

BOD Policy Manual. Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Ms. McCrutcheon, moved to approve an amendment to the Board of Directors’ Policy Manual to provide that the Budget & Finance Committee meetings will be posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act at the discretion of the committee chair.

Protests & Hearings. Jeff Morrison, Chief of Hearings, reported on protests and hearings, including iFile and iSettle. Protests are still being processed but as of this meeting for the 2025 tax year, 534,436 protests (roughly a 9% increase from last year) have been received with the vast majority of them being filed electronically. He reported that the electronic settlement options are once again proving to be very productive with over 222k protests being settled so far. The first Saturday hearings are scheduled for this weekend, and correction and exemption hearings continue to be scheduled to stay current.

BIPD 2025 Notice Status. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business & Industrial Property Division, reported on the 2025 BIPD notice status. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

JUR Value Viewer. David Dignum, Director GIS section, reported on the web-based MUD Value Change Viewer. A slide presentation and an interactive map were provided to the board.

HB 4310. Director Sullivan stated that because of the public discussion regarding restricting board access to information, he was making a formal request for district administration to present HB 4310 as an agenda item at a future board meeting. He requested that this bill be discussed as a separate agenda item from any of the other bills in this legislative session that have a fiscal or operational impact on the district.

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 Secretary Kevin Stone, 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. Director Scott requested information on the certified values and notices for residential properties. Deputy Chief Appraiser Cunningham will be providing the requested information to the board this week. Director Scott also inquired about the status of live streaming the Board of Director’s meetings. After voicing several concerns by board members, Chairman Robinson announced that live streaming will commence at next month’s meeting.

Executive Session. Chairman Robinson called the board into executive session at 10:45 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 11:44 a.m.

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

Pending Litigation. Ms. McCrutcheon, seconded by Mr. Scott, moved to approve settlement of pending litigation, arbitrations, and SOAH appeals as submitted by staff. After a roll-call vote, the motion carried with Mr. Sullivan abstaining. 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 11:45 a.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2025/Boardbook-final-July-16-2025-meeting.pdf