Taxpayers for Equal Appraisal Access Information!
Taxation must be equal and uniform!
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Taxpayers for equal appraisal!

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Set out below are copies of items which Taxpayers for Equal Appraisal has collected for you to see.  This is accomplished through the open records rule.

 

This is a letter from a taxpayer to the Harris County Appraiser:

Aug 9, 2000 Mr. Paul Bettencourt Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector P .0. Box 3527 Houston, TX 77252-3527 Dear Mr. Bettencourt, What are their duties? They are hired by us to do the tough work of tax appraisals and assessment. HCAD is whom I am referring to, and how they treat their "boss" and "customer", as I am both in a convoluted way, is what I have a problem with. In short story terms what happened was a Mr. Kenny Smith an employee of HCAD purposely tried to incite a friend of mine, by calling him '"white trash". Yes my friend is a pain to the people at HCAD. Thank the lord for that we all need someone watching what government agencies do for us, and sometimes to us. Dan Hart is a good man concerned about the community and the people who live in it. Otherwise why would he spend his retired life, knocking on doors, asking hard questions and offering help with solutions? But no. At least one man at the HCAD sees him as a man to "HATE". I use that term because that is how I have seen Coach Hart treated by a person who worked for HCAD.  Why be hateful to a man who pushes you to be better, possibly even best? (Imagine that a "best government agency") There are two answers that are apparent to me. The first is tax assessment and collection is as I said inherently a tough job. We need government and its related taxes, and I guess as a result the beauracracies that come with it. Although I have not yet met a person who was entirely happy with how much tax they pay, and most people I know are suspicious of government agencies and their stewardship of "our" money. And this in turn would make those people working for government agencies defensive about their work. Including those citizens who willingly give their time to help critically analyze government's stewardship of our tax dollars can break this cycle. The second problem is tougher, and that is what to do when an employee treats another person in a hateful way. I have seen how Mr. Smith treats Coach Hart, and I heard him refer to Coach Hart as "white trash". I felt as a public servant Mr. Smith was out of line, way out of line. As: I said I do realize how critical Coach Hart has been of HCAD. No one enjoys being critically analyzed but in order to improve criticism is a necessary companion. Learn to work with that companion and use it to become a better organization instead of hating it, and the people you may associate with it. I believe Mr. Smith at minimum owes Coach Hart an apology. And I hope HCAD management can understand the value of Coach Harts' attempts: to act in a watchdog role to protect the community he loves. Thank you,   ss/Dennis O. Walsh Dennis O. Walsh Harris County Taxpayer

Harris County Appraisal District 2800 North Loop West, Houston, Texas Telephone: 713-812-5800 Information Center: 713-957-7800 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 920975/Houston, TX 77292-0975 Board of Directors November 8, 2000 Mr. Dan Hart 71 Hibury Houston, Texas 77024 Dear Mr. Hart: Our counsel has reviewed the allegations of misconduct which you made against appraisal review board vice-chair, Kenneth Smith. Counsel determined that there is substantial credible evidence that confirms your version of the events occurring on June 28,2000. Counsel also found substantial credible evidence that the conduct as alleged by you did not occur. The result of his review is, therefore, inconclusive. Because Mr. Smith's term of office ends December 31,2000, because he is ineligible for reappointment, and because the appraisal review board' s work for the 2000 tax year is substantially complete, the board of directors will undertake no further review and will take no action on the matter. I assure you, however, that the board of directors does not condone the kind of conduct alleged. If the event occurred as alleged, I apologize on behalf of the board of directors. The board will not tolerate such conduct, and I encourage you to bring any future incidents to our attention. Very truly yours,   ss/Charles Garrison Charles Garrison Chairman, Board of Directors

To: Toni Trumbull From: Sands Stiefer Date: October 29, 1998 Re: Text Dear Toni: This is in response to your inquiry on behalf of PTEC concerning the law/introduction to appraisal/assessment/collection/advanced collection textbook. In preparing these figures, I used the same amounts that IAAO pays -- $50 per hour - to estimate time already invested in the text and to determine a cost for my time to complete the text HCAD will transfer the text, including all computer files, rights and responsibilities, to PTEC, for $3,500, reflecting 70 hours of work already put into the text. HCAD is not particularly concerned about how payment might be made; the amount could be offset against HCAD's contributions to PTEC if that seems easiest to all concerned. I estimate that an additional 80 hours of work will be required to complete the text, which as you know, is over 300pages long. The majority of the material has been brought up to date with legal changes from the last legislative session, although it will have to be reviewed for interpretive changes since I updated it. The majority of the work will involve editing the text to have a consistent an logical flow, and addressing any areas that might have changed between he original text and the 1995 legislative session, as well as material that might be incorporated in any of the new outlines that is not in the existing material. I anticipate the need to have the text reviewed and to incorporate changes prior to final publication. At 80 hours, the cost to finish the material would be $4,000. I would keep tract of my time in whatever manner PTEC desires. Unless PTEC were to require the addition of significant material not included in the current draft, I would cap the cost at $4,000, irrespective of the amount of time over 80 hours spent. I would be most comfortable with a completion deadline of March 1, as I will be doing the updates outside of my hours at HCAD, but I am open to an earlier date if necessary. Let me know what PTEC decides. Sincerely,   ss/ Sands Stiefer Sands Stiefer

The next 2 items are copies of sales receipts from Micro Center.

The next item is the Harris County Appraisal District expense account approval form.

The next item is the application for Appraisal Review Board Appointment submitted by Mr. Lantz.  The portions are for Section F: "In your own words, please explain why you should be considered for appointment", and Section G: "Affirmation".

Application for Appraisal Review Board Appointment. F. In your own words, please explain why you should be considered for appointment to the Appraisal Review Board. I am fifty-eight (58) years old and have been retired for five (5) years. My college degree was in engineering and most of my career was spent as an engineer/manager of a 4000+ employee steel plant. I have lived in Harris County 52 years and a resident of Pasadena 35 years. Serving on the Appraisal Board the last two (2) years has been both a learning and rewarding experience. This past year I have spent most of my time with the Board as a chairman; and have been afforded the opportunity to hear some of the more difficult protests, i.e. 1) Baybrook Mall; 2) The infamous "Coach" Hart; 3) The Huntington and 4) $850,000 Kingwood home owner by an individual who did not recognize our constitution. With the Board’s approval I look forward to serving another term. G. Affirmation ss/Leland Lantz Date: 11/11/98

The next item is the Harris County Appraisal Review Board training transcript.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: My studies didn’t include algebra and math. That football advisor, he said, "Well, you know, you don’t need that." Now, I have to go back and study that -– really study that math and what I’ve learned about it is in algebra, it’s a practice thing. You really have to stick with it and practice so I’m learning it (inaudible) what you call (inaudible) to get back and start doctoral studies. (Inaudible.) I’m glad to be back. Thank you. MR. BARTLETT: Item No. 2, a preapproval of the minutes of the previous meeting. UNIDENTIFIED ARB MEMBER: So moved. UNIDENTIFIED ARB MEMBER: Second. MR. BARTLETT: And moved and seconded. All those in favor say, "Aye." (Several ayes from the crowd.) MR. BARTLESS: Any nays? Motion carried. Item No. 3, comments from the public. We have none. Item No. 4, continuing education. I’ll turn the meeting over to our education chairman, Susan Jordan. MS. JORDAN: Good morning. I think everybody knows our first presenter. I’m assuming, Sands, you’re going to speak first. Is that correct? MR. STIEFER: That’s your choice. MS. JORDAN: Okay. Let me just give you a little background information on Sands. Sands currently serves as chief of staff of the Harris County Appraisal District. In that capacity he’s a district chief administrative officer overseeing its personnel and management, data processing facility, jurisdiction services, legal services and property owner and public information services. He has served in this capacity for two years. Prior to joining HCAD, Mr. Stiefer served as general counsel for the Texas Property Tax Board, overseeing that agency’s statewide information and technical assistance services. Mr. Stiefer is an attorney who graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1978. This morning he’s going to speak to us on equity. Mr. Stiefer. MR. STIEFER: Sounds like lawyer and career bureaucrat, doesn’t it? Good morning. This is a fun topic for me to talk about because in the nine years that I worked for the State Property Tax Board, one of that board’s major tasks was to study appraisal level and appraisal equity and uniformity around the state. And I venture to say that I have probably seen every variety of phony, fake, weird, strange, bizarre and kooky equity type evidence you might run across. And what I tried to do in this paper that we handed out is to condense what is a fairly complicated topic for you and kind of give you a background. It’s real hard to talk about it and for you to get it all just haring me talk, so I figure you could read this all at your leisure later and holler at me if you have any questions. Equity protests come about because of a collision between two provisions in our constitution as well as a collision between provisions in our statute. As you know, one of the key principles in the Texas Constitution, Article 8, Section 1, is taxation shall be equal and uniform. The other key principle is the taxation shall be in proportion with market value. And you may have circumstances that property owners value is at market, but other similarly situated properties are not. They’re less than at market. And there’s a long line of Texas case law, which has been incorporated in the tax code… ARB INDOCTRINATION TRAINING COURSE This information was transcribed originally by Carol Davis Reporting, Records & Video, Inc. Hcadtea.org has copied the information for you to see on this web site.

What is the tax payer's role? Be informed. Protest your appraisal. Knowledge is power.

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