Houston Daily

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met July 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, July 16th, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Jim Robinson called the meeting to order at 9:34 a.m. and asked for a moment of silence for all those that lost their lives due to the recent floods in Central Texas.

Chairman Robinson announced that the Board of Directors meetings were now being live streamed and stated that this change highlights the progress HCAD has made in providing information access to the public.

Director Martina Lemond Dixon to lead 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, Ericka McCrutcheon, Melissa Noriega, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Annette Ramirez, and Mike Sullivan were present. Director Kathy Blueford-Daniels joined the meeting at 10:01 a.m. Director Kyle Scott was absent.

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

Chairman Robinson recognized special guest Senator Paul Bentencourt who presented Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger with a state proclamation honoring his 37 years of service and professionalism.

Recognition of Summer Interns. Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger recognized the ten interns who were selected to participate in the district’s 2025 summer internship program. This program provides the students with experience working in a professional environment.

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 Tamica Bonner of the Information & Assistance Division, and Lameka Walker of the Commercial Property Division.

20-year service awards were presented to Clayton Rogers of the Commercial Property Division, and Byron Stanley of the Residential Property Division.

Employees of the Month. Employee of the Month plaques were presented to Daysi Bolton Sanchez of the ARB Operations Division, Garrett Chambers of the Residential Property Division, Adela Jacinto of the Information Technology Division, and Adriana Palencia of the Commercial Property Division.

Comments from Members of the Public. Property owner Melissa Rowell addressed the board. Ms. Rowell provided a handout to the board.

Committee Meetings. Director McCrutcheon, Chairman of the Evaluation Committee reported on the last meeting held by the Evaluation committee. Director Noriega summarized the results of the Budget & Finance committee’s last meeting to the board.

Presentation of Proposed 2026 Budget. Prior to the presentation of the budget, Chairman Robinson briefed the board on the Tax Code policies and procedures regarding an appraisal district budget. Chief Appraiser Altinger summarized the proposed budget for 2026 with a slide presentation outlining his recommendations to the board.

Board of Directors discussion on the Proposed 2026 Budget. Chairman Robinson opened the floor to the board of directors regarding the proposed budget, stating that major drivers of a budget from year to year are personnel costs. All Directors were provided with a chance to voice questions and concerns.

Public Hearing on Proposed 2026 Budget. Chairman Robinson opened the public hearing at 10:57 a.m. for the proposed 2026 budget. Property owners Melissa Rowell and Alexie Swirsky addressed the board. With no further comments from the public, Chairman Robinson declared the public hearing closed at 11:03 a.m.

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. Ramirez, 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 June 18, 2025.

b. Board Member Travel. Approving travel for the board members who plan to attend the International Association of Assessing Officers Annual Conference September 21 through September 24, 2025.

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

d. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in the amount of $8,531,325.75 as submitted.

Election Services Fund. Ms. Blueford-Daniels, seconded by Ms. Lemond Dixon, moved to approve Resolution 2025-06 the establishment of an Election Services Fund for election services and the transfer of $1,000,000 budgeted from the 2025 Budget. After a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.

Print & Mailing Services Contract. Ms. McCrutcheon, seconded by Ms. Ramirez, moved to approve the award of a contract for the print and mail services to QuestMark Information Management, Inc. in the amount of $625,766 for year one of five. After a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.

Servers & VMware Subscription. Ms. Lemond Dixon, seconded by Ms. Blueford-Daniels, moved to approve the purchase of additional servers and a one-year VMware licensing subscription for the district’s main data center, through DIR vendors Centre Technologies, Inc., and Accudata Systems respectively, in the total amount of $498,000. After a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.

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, 549,807 protests (roughly a 10% 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 328k protests being settled so far. Correction and exemption hearings continue to be scheduled to stay current.

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 member 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. Director Lemond Dixon thanked the staff for making the live streaming event happen today. Director Noriega commented that as we move forward with technology, we need to keep in mind the importance of those property owners, especially seniors who don’t have access to computers or smartphones and that we continue to make every attempt to make sure that every single property owner continues to receive all correspondence sent by the district.

Executive Session. Chairman Robinson called the board into executive session at 11:29 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 12:30 p.m.

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

Chief Appraiser Position. Director McCrutcheon, Chairman of the Evaluation Committee stated that a news release to announce the open chief appraiser position would be going out as soon as possible. Ms. Blueford-Daniels, seconded by Ms. Noriega moved to approve the press release, posting, job description, and the duties and responsibilities to fill the chief appraiser position for Harris Central Appraisal District. After a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.

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

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

25.25(b) Corrections. With no action required, the quarterly report of corrections was presented to the board and made available upon request by any board members who wanted to inspect it.

Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 12:34 p.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2025/Boardbook-August-20-2025-Meeting.pdf