New Mexico Sun

Harris Central Appraisal District Board of Directors met April 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Harris Central Board of Directors was held Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. at the HCAD offices.

Chairman Martina Lemond Dixon called the meeting to order at 9:32 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, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Jonathan Cowen, and Jim Robinson were present. Grace Rodriguez joined the meeting at 9:53 a.m. and Mike Sullivan joined the meeting at 10:48 a.m. Ann Harris Bennett was 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 10-year service awards to Gary Cooper and Eric Young both from the Residential Property Division.

A 20-year service award was presented to John McDonald of the Information Technology Division.

A 25-year service award was presented to Matthew Maspero of the Information Technology Division.

Employees of the Month. Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger and Board member Jonathan Cowen presented employee of the month plaques to Alvin Brown of the Commercial Property Division, Tatiana Coleman of the Business & Industrial Property Division, Debbie Guillory of the Legal Services Division, and Payam Mehdizadeh of the Residential Property Division.

Comments from Members of the Public. Mayor Jon Keeney, Kayann Jorgenson and Robert Davee from the City of Taylor Lake Village addressed the board. Handouts were provided to the board of directors. Chief Appraiser Altinger asked Clarette Walker, Chief of Operations and Deputy Chief Appraiser Jason Cunningham to meet with the property owners to go over their concerns.

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. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Rodriguez, moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously.

a. Approval of Minutes. Reviewing and approving the minutes of the regular meeting of March 20, 2024, and the Special Meeting of March 25, 2024.

b. TREPP Contract Renewal. Renewing a contract with TREPP to provide structured loan and CRE data and market analytics services for $90,928 for 2024, which is an increase of 5% ($4,330) from 2023.

c. Board Travel. Approving board members who wish to attend the 2024 ESRI User Conference and the pre-conference Senior Executive Seminar.

d. Case Management System Subscription. Approving a one-year subscription fee with Eccentex Corporation for the Case Management System (CMS). The cost is $64,128, the same as last year.

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

f. Bills and Payroll. Authorizing payment of bills and payroll in amount of $9,517,612.67 as submitted.

Resolution for Election Services Interlocal Agreement. Mr. Robinson, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve Resolution 2024-03, approving the Board to enter into an interlocal agreement with Harris County for Election Services for a Runoff Election, if required, for the election of three board members. Board member Jim Robinson updated the board on the May 2024 Board member election which included the latest information on the possibility of a run-off. The motion carried unanimously.

Resolution for Order of General Election. Mr. Robinson, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve Resolution 2024-04, approving an Order of a Runoff Election, if required, on June 15, 2024, for the election of three board members. The motion carried unanimously.

BOD Policy Manual. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Mr. Robinson, moved to review, and approve changes to the Board of Directors’ Policy Manual by updating the policy from September 2021 to April 2024. Chairman Lemond Dixon requested that future changes to policy or manuals presented to the board be available in red-lined versions. Board member Auzenne Bandy requested that the policy manual that provides guidance on the appointment of ARB members be drafted for board members to review. The motion carried unanimously.

Interlocal Agreement TIPS. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Rodriguez, moved to enter into an Interlocal Agreement with the Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS), to participate in its TIPS purchasing cooperative. The motion carried unanimously.

VisiFLOW Software Upgrade. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Auzenne Bandy, moved to approve a new contract with a sole source vendor, Eccentex Corp., for phase one Visiflow software upgrade. The cost of phase one for year 2024 is not to exceed $600,000. The motion carried unanimously.

TrueRoll Software. Ms. Auzenne Bandy, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve a one-year subscription to TrueRoll software for automating the processing of exemption applications received electronically through Omnia Partners vendor SHI in the amount of $287,000. The motion carried unanimously.

Chiller Replacement RFP. Ms. Auzenne Bandy, seconded by Mr. Cowen, moved to approve specifications for the replacement of two chillers, four chilled water pumps, and one condenser water pump and authorize the publication of the invitation for bids. The motion carried unanimously.

HCAD Community Relations. Mabel Menefee, Community Relations Specialist, provided an overview of the district’s community outreach program that informs Harris County residents about the appraisal process, exemptions, and the property tax system. Board member Jim Robinson commented that while HCAD sets the standard to educate the public, he would like to see more of HCAD’s senior staff participating in the outreach programs. Board member Grace Rodriguez suggested that an impact report would be beneficial to the community to show positive outcomes of HCAD’s work.

Rendition Workshops. Hal Long, Associate Chief Appraiser of the Business & Industrial Property Division, gave an update on the rendition workshops. Eight rendition workshops were held with four workshops held virtually via WebEx and four held at the HCAD offices. These workshops have proven to be very productive every year. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

2024 Reappraisal and Status of Noticing. Associate Chief Appraiser Stephen Atchison, of the Residential Property Division and Associate Chief Appraiser Erika Nettles, of the Commercial Property Division reported on the market trends and the 2024 status of noticing of residential and commercial properties. A slide presentation was provided to the board.

Exemption Volume. 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.

Top Workplace Excellence Award. Chief Appraiser Altinger, reported on HCAD’s recognition in eight categories of the TOP Workplace USA Study.

2025 Budget Development. Chief Appraiser Altinger provided the board with a guideline on the dates for the proposed 2025 budget. Chairman Lemond Dixon asked about the flexibility of the dates wanting to make sure that the new board members being swore in on July 1st would have an opportunity to review the proposed budget.

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.

Chairman Lemond Dixon recognized Board member Mike Sullivan who requested that updating the board on the SB2 implementation of the district be placed on the agenda on a regular basis stating that it would benefit all board members.

Appraisal Review Board Report. With the ARB Chairman and Secretary attending mandatory training, a written report was provided in the board packet.

Appraisal Matters. There were none.

Board member Mike Sullivan voiced his concern on the scheduling dates of the Budget Development, expressing he would like to see the public hearing and the adoption of the budget scheduled on different dates. Chairman Lemond Dixon stated that earlier in the meeting, she also expressed concerns about the proposed dates because of the three new members joining the board. After further discussions by board members, it was agreed that to better serve the public and the taxing units the public hearing and the adoption of the budget would be scheduled on separate dates.

Executive Session. Chairman Lemond Dixon called the board into executive session at 12:02 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 12:12 p.m.

Roll Call. Board members Jim Robinson, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Jonathan Cowen, Mike Sullivan, and Grace Rodriguez were present. Ann Harris Bennett was absent.

Pending Litigation. Mr. Cowen, seconded by Ms. Rodriguez, moved to approve settlement of pending litigation, arbitrations, and SOAH appeals as submitted by staff. The motion passed with Mr. Sullivan abstaining. A list is attached.

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

25.25(b) Corrections. The quarterly report of corrections was made available upon request by any board members who wanted to inspect it.

Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 12:14 p.m.

https://hcad.org/assets/uploads/pdf/resources/2024/Boardbook-final-May-15-2024-Meeting.pdf